Evidence of kinetic trapping in clusters of C-60 molecules

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evidence of kinetic trapping in clusters of C-60 molecules

AU - Baletto, F

AU - Doye, J P K

AU - Ferrando, R

PY - 2002

Y1 - 2002

N2 - Molecular dynamics simulations of the growth of nanoclusters of C-60 provide convincing evidence that experimental magic numbers, which are associated with structures based on Mackay icosahedra, are of kinetic origin. This finding resolves a long-standing contradiction between the experimental observations and the theoretically predicted most stable structures. Our results show that, even if a sticky intermolecular potential energetically disfavors icosahedral structures, the latter are frequently produced because the stickiness of the potential itself enhances kinetic trapping phenomena

AB - Molecular dynamics simulations of the growth of nanoclusters of C-60 provide convincing evidence that experimental magic numbers, which are associated with structures based on Mackay icosahedra, are of kinetic origin. This finding resolves a long-standing contradiction between the experimental observations and the theoretically predicted most stable structures. Our results show that, even if a sticky intermolecular potential energetically disfavors icosahedral structures, the latter are frequently produced because the stickiness of the potential itself enhances kinetic trapping phenomena

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.075503

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.075503

M3 - Article

SN - 1079-7114

VL - 88

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

IS - 7

M1 - 075503

ER -