Investigating the interaction of He with the inside of a C60 carbon cage: An INS study of the He@C60 molecular endofullerene

Highly innovative molecular surgery techniques have been developed in recent years to synthesise small molecule endofullerenes in which the molecular cage of C60 completely encloses and entraps a small molecule/atom. The physical entrapment provides a nanolab environment in which to study the isolated molecule and to exploit its quantum dynamics. In this new proposal, we extend this program to the study of larger organic molecules, notably 4He@C60. INS allows precise measurement of the rotational and translational energy levels of the molecule trapped inside the cavity. These energy levels are extremely sensitive to the interaction potential between the interior surface of the cage and the guest atom. Access to TOSCA would allow us to measure at a higher resolution and at different temperatures which would confirm if our established model for the potential works.