TIGHT-BINDING MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS OF C-61 FORMATION AND DECOMPOSITION IN C-60 COLLISIONS(C)

The formation and decomposition of C-61 clusters by collisions of carb on atoms with C-60 clusters have been studied within tight-binding mol ecular-dynamics simulations. It is found that a carbon projectile can be strongly bound outside a C-60 cage; C-61 may decay into C-60+C, in which the projectile carbon atom substitutes for a carbon atom in the C-60 target, into C-59+C-2 and C-58+C+C-2. The results are in good agr eement with experiments. The C@C-60 clusters are found to be formed at high collision energies. The critical energies for formations and dec ompositions of C-61 clusters with the projectile carbon atoms incident in radial directions are given.