DIRECT EXPERIMENTAL-EVIDENCE FOR THE THERMAL NATURE OF DELAYED ELECTRON-EMISSION FROM A SUPERHOT C-60 MOLECULE

Delayed electron emission from superhot neutral C-60 was found to stro ngly depend on the initial molecular thermal energy. This dependence i s clearly demonstrated by measurements of delayed ionization efficienc y curves following electron impact for widely different C-60 average v ibrational energies in the range of 8-14 eV. These measurements provid e direct experimental evidence for the thermal nature of delayed ioniz ation of superhot clusters. A simulation based on decay kinetics with thermal rate constants was found to be in good agreement with experime nt. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.