Distribution of mass and averaged internal energy of fullerenes produced in arc-discharge ion source

In this work, the decay rate of fullerene ion beams as well as its dependence on the flight time from standard plasma type ion source has been studied. We have performed direct measurements of the decay probability of each fullerene ion (n=44 to 70) using two energy analyzers. The experimental results are well accounted for in terms of the concept of evaporating ensemble for the behavior of fullerenes in the continuous arc-discharge ion source. The obtained individually different internal energy distributions for fullerenes from C ₄₄ ⁺ to C ₆₈ ⁺ are for the first time presented.