Optimal covering of C60 fullerene by rare gases.

Putative global energy minima of clusters formed by the adsorption of rare gases on a C(60) fullerene molecule, C(60)X(N) (X=Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe; N ≤ 70), are found using basin-hopping global optimization in an empirical potential energy surface. The association energies per rare gas atom as a function of N present two noticeable minima for Ne and Ar and just one for Kr and Xe. The minimum with the smallest N is the deepest one and corresponds to an optimal packing monolayer structure; the other one gives a monolayer with maximum packing. For Kr and Xe, optimal and maximum packing structures coincide. By using an isotropic average form of the X-C(60) interaction, we have established the relevance of the C(60) surface corrugation on the cluster structures. Quantum effects are relevant for Ne clusters. The adsorption of these rare gases on C(60) follows patterns that differ significantly from the ones found recently for He by means of experimental and theoretical methods.