Delayed ionisation of C76

A delayed ionisation experiment has been carried out on laser excited C76 molecules. Ions and electrons are detected in coincidence to distinguish the ionisation of C76 from that of C74 molecules created by the dominant process, emission of C2. From the power-law dependence of the C76+ yield on time we deduce the dissociation energy, Ed = 8.2 ± 0.3 eV. The relative yield of C74+ is consistent with very similar Arrhenius parameters for C76 and C74, both for ionisation and for C2 emission. With the assumption of a frequency factor for dissociation, Ad = 1019 s−1, the power of photon emission from neutral C76 is also determined from the experiment. It is consistent with predictions based on oscillator strengths derived from inelastic electron scattering.