Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
In a series of experiments on solid C60, the low-energy rotational dynamics of the molecules, the higher-energy vibrational spectra, and aspects of disorder in the static structure, have been studied. The nearly spherical shape of the C60 molecule, and the occurrence of an orientational phase transition at Tc=256 K, make the C60 solid an excellent system for investigations of orientational dynamics. Coherent quasi-elastic neutron scattering above Tc is described quantitatively by a rotational diffusion model. Below Tc, inelastic scattering froma soft librational mode is observed between 2 and 3 meV. Models of the strong, temperaturedependent diffuse scattering due to orientational disorder are discussed. Finally, measurements of the density of states for the intramolecular ( E ≥ 33 meV) vibrational modes are also presented.