Mamone, S., Ge, Min, Hüvonen, D., Nagel, U., Danquigny, A., Cuda, F., Grossel, M.C., Murata, Y., Komatsu, K., Levitt, M.H., Rõõm, T. and Carravetta, M. (2009) Rotor in a cage: infrared spectroscopy of an endohedral hydrogen-fullerene complex. Journal of Chemical Physics, 130 (8), 081103-[4pp]. (doi:10.1063/1.3080163). (PMID:19256588)
Abstract
We report the observation of quantized translational and rotational motion of molecular hydrogen inside the cages of C60. Narrow infrared absorption lines at the temperature of 6 K correspond to vibrational excitations in combination with translational and rotational excitations and show well-resolved splittings due to the coupling between translational and rotational modes of the endohedral H2 molecule. A theoretical model shows that H2 inside C60 is a three-dimensional quantum rotor moving in a nearly spherical potential. The theory provides both the frequencies and the intensities of the observed infrared transitions. Good agreement with the experimental results is obtained by fitting a small number of empirical parameters to describe the confining potential, as well as the relative concentration of ortho- and para-H2.
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