Rotational dynamics and orientational melting of C60: A neutron scattering study

Abstract

Well-defined librational excitations have been observed at energies of 2–3 meV in the low temperature ordered phase of solid C60. These relatively high energies imply a stiff orientational potential below the transition. The sharpness of the peaks indicates that this potential does not depend strongly on the axis of the angular displacement. The modes soften and broaden as the temperature approaches that of the orientational melting transition which occurs when the librational amplitude is a considerable fraction of nearest-neighbor interatomic angles.