Ionization and fragmentation of C60 in charge-transfer collisions of 2-MeV lithium ions

Collision-induced ionization and fragmentation of C-60 molecules are studied using 2-MeV Liq+ projectile ions with (q = 1-3. Cross Sections for the production of fragment ions C-n(+), (n = 1 - 14) and ionized parent ions C-60(r+) (r = 1-4) were obtained by time-of-flight measurements in coincidence with outgoing projectiles with charge states k ranging from 0 to 3. The mass-to-charge spectra revealed a wide variety of distribution patterns for different q-->k collision processes. For all three incident charges, the degree of target ionization and fragmentation was found to increase with increasing number of electrons captured by or lost from the projectile ions in collisions. Analysis of cross section data for small fragment ions provides evidence of the quasiequilibrium charge distribution achieved for ions penetrating the CM) molecular cage. [S1050-2947(99)07106-1].