Physisorption of molecular oxygen on C₆₀ thin films

High resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption was used to study the interaction of oxygen molecules with a fullerene surface. It was found that the vibrational excitation of the absorbed oxygen observed at 190 meV could be comparable with that for molecular oxygen in the gas phase. Using thermal desorption it was found that the bonding of the oxygen molecules to the C₆₀ overlayer was comparable to that on a graphite surface. An inelastic electron resonance scattering process was also revealed on studying the energy dependence of the vibrational excitation.