Interaction of electrons with C60+ and C60−: post-ionization, dissociation and kinetic energy release

We report on the interaction of energetic electrons with size- and charge-selected fullerene ions in the second field-free region of a double-focusing sector-field mass spectrometer. C602+ and C60+ are formed from C60+ and C60−, respectively. The kinetic energy released in the electron-induced formation of the fragment ions, C582+ and C58+, is measured and compared to the kinetic energy released in metastable dissociations.