Orientation of adsorbed C-60 molecules determined via x-ray photoelectron diffraction

Although significant insight into fullerene-substrate interactions has come from recent surface science studies, to date there has been no unambiguous way to determine the molecular orientation of adsorbed C-60 molecules. We show that photoelectron diffraction patterns from monolayer C-60 films are directly related to the intramolecular structure of C-60 This allows for the first time a direct and unambiguous identification of the molecular orientation of the adsorbed fullerenes with respect to the substrate. A variety of molecular orientations is observed on different substrates.