Ionization and multifragmentation have been observed in ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ molecules bombarded by ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{35+}$ and ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{18+}$ ions with energies in the range 420-625 MeV. The c.m. energies exceeded those used in previous studies by several orders of magnitude. We present the observed mass distribution of positively charged fragments together with a theoretical model indicating that the total interaction cross section contains roughly equal contributions from (a) excitation of the giant plasmon resonance, and (b) large-energy-transfer processes that lead to multiple fragmentation of the molecule

• Received 18 January 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.3965