Ultrafast dynamics and fragmentation of C60 in intense laser pulses

TL;DR

This study uses simulations to explore how intense laser pulses cause C60 fullerenes to vibrate and fragment, revealing wavelength-dependent fragmentation patterns and potential for selective production of carbon fragments.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation approach to understand laser-induced fragmentation of C60 and demonstrates wavelength control over fragment production.

Findings

Fragmentation is more pronounced at wavelengths >800 nm.

C and C2 production ratios increase with wavelength.

Multi-pulse laser fragmentation mimics multi-step photoionization.

Abstract

The radiation-induced fragmentation of the C60 fullerene was investigated by the tight-binding electron-ion dynamics simulations. In intense laser field, the breathing vibrational mode is much more strongly excited than the pentagonal-pinch mode. The fragmentation effect was found more remarkable at long wavelength lambda>800 nm rather than the resonant wavelengths due to the internal laser-induced dipole force, and the production ratio of C and C2 rapidly grows with increasing wavelength. By such fragmentation law, C atoms, C2 dimers or large Cn fragments could be selectively obtained by changing the laser wavelength. And the fragmentation of C60 by two laser pulses like the multi-step atomic photoionization was investigated.