Angular-resolved studies of fragmentation in fullerene-fullerene collisions

Fragmentation channels in collisions between fullerenes were studied as a function of collision energy (115–1400 eV center of mass) and scattering angle using a rotatable reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The products from fusion reactions and those from inelastically scattered (but not fused) projectile ions represent the two fragmentation channels in the collisions studied. The fragment size dependence is discussed as a function of collision energy and scattering angle. The results are in good qualitative agreement with theoretical models. A change in fragmentation behavior due to the onset of a finite-system analog of a phase transition in the reaction products can be seen in the mass and angular distributions of the fragment ions.