Filling factors, structural, and electronic properties Of C60 molecules in single-wall carbon nanotubes -: art. no. 045419

We report recent measurements of the electronic and structural properties of bulk samples of C-60 molecules encapsulated in single-wall carbon nanotubes (so-called peapods) using electron-energy-loss spectroscopy in transmission. We demonstrate that C-60 peapods with a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) diameter distribution of 1.37 +/- 0.08 nm have an average fullerene filling of 60%. Regarding the electronic and optical properties, the overall shape of the response of the SWNT and the peapods is very similar, but with distinct differences in the fine structure. The interband transitions of the SWNT are slightly downshifted in the peapods, which can be explained by either a small increase of the SWNT diameter or by a change of the intertube interaction. The electronic and optical properties of the encapsulated C-60 peas closely resemble those of solid fcc C-60 showing small changes in the relative intensities, peak positions, and peak width, which point to a weak van der Waals interaction between the tubes and the encapsulated fullerenes.