The scattering of low energy C60 on graphite (0001) surfaces

The interaction between C₆₀ molecules with a graphite (0001) surface has been investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The initial energies of the C60 molecules are 90 and 270 eV, respectively. An empirical model potential suggested by Takai et al. is used to describe the interaction between carbon atoms in the C₆₀ molecule and between the atoms forming the graphite substrate. The interaction between the C₆₀ atoms and the graphite atoms is modeled by a suitable Lennard-Jones potential. The resilience of scattered C₆₀ molecules is observed and its energy distribution is in reasonable agreement with available experimental data, showing no significant dependence of the rebounding translational energy on the incident kinetic energy. The energy partition in the collision has been analyzed in detail and a two-step collision model speculated in the experiments has been discussed based on the simulation results.