White Luminescence from Solid C ₆₀

Abstract

We report the observation of intense and spectrally broad luminescence from polycrystalline C60 for laser excitation intensities exceeding a particular threshold value. On the basis of time-resolved luminescence studies, we attribute this "white" luminescence to transitions between higher electronic band states, populated by two-step absorption processes. The observation of white luminescence for excitation in the infrared verifies this interpretation.