On the spectral frequency distribution of translational vibrations in a face-centered cubic lattice of the C60 fullerite

The spectral frequency distribution g(ω) of translational lattice vibrations in the face-centered cubic phase of the C₆₀ fullerite at T = 300 K is calculated by the superposition method. The contribution from the translational vibrations to the heat capacity C _V of the C₆₀ fullerite and the x-ray characteristic temperature gJ_R entering into the exponent of the Debye-Waller factor are determined using the calculated frequency distribution g(ω). The results of the calculations are in good agreement with experimental data. It is noted that the librational and intramolecular lattice vibrations observed in the C₆₀ fullerite do not contribute significantly to the temperature-induced decrease in the x-ray diffraction intensity at T = 300 K. The Grüneisen parameters γ_mod calculated from the x-ray diffraction data are consistent with the thermodynamic Grüneisen parameters γ_lat at temperatures T ≤ 80 K but substantially exceed those at T ≈ 300 K. New x-ray diffraction experiments are proposed for independently determining the anomalously large negative values of the parameter γ₀, which is actually an orientational analog of the Grüneisen parameter.