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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Statistical mechanics of fullerene coalescence growth
Gerd SchönhenseJ. MaulE. MarositsG. HuberT. Bergsubject
Coalescence (physics)PhysicsCollision dynamicsClassical mechanicsFullereneChemical physicsLog-normal distributionStatistical analysisStatistical mechanicsCondensed Matter PhysicsElectronic Optical and Magnetic MaterialsCoalescent theorydescription
Among the different carbon allotropes fullerenes are exceptionally intriguing for their spheroidal topology out of pentagons and hexagons. However, the dominant formation mode is still ambiguous. Here, we analyze the fullerene formation process by the statistical analysis of fullerene sizes produced in a laser-induced microplasma finding that a simple two-parameter lognormal distribution describes impressively well the cluster frequencies under various conditions. Our findings clearly reveal coalescent growth following a classical collision dynamics and disagree with several earlier assumptions.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-10-23 | Physical Review B |