CO2-LASER-DRIVEN PRODUCTION OF CARBON CLUSTERS AND FULLERENES FROM THE GAS-PHASE

We present a new technique which can be employed for the efficient production of carbon clusters and fullerenes from the gas phase. It is based on the rapid transfer of the vibrational energy from CO2-laser-excited SF6 to hydrocarbons. In a flow reactor, a low-pressure mixture of SF6 and C2H2 is subjected to the radiation of a cw or pulsed CO2 laser. Thus very high temperatures are achieved, resulting in the dissociation Of C2H2 and the aggregation of the dissociation products to carbon clusters and soot particles. By introducing a skimmer into the reaction zone, the generated carbon clusters are transferred to free molecular flow and analyzed with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer.