Effect of heating of the electronic subsystem on the thermal stability of the C60 and C20 fullerenes and (C20)2 cluster molecule

The effect of heating of the electronic subsystem on the thermal stability of C-60 and C-20 fullerenes and a (C-20)(2) cluster molecule is investigated theoretically. It is demonstrated that the excitation of electrons to upper energy levels in accordance with the Fermi-Dirac distribution function does not lead to a substantial change in the activation energy E-a for decay of the C-20 fullerene. The stability of the C-60 Fullerene and the (C-20)(2) cluster molecule likewise does not change radically. However, the inclusion of corrections associated with the finite sizes of the heat bath leads to the activation energy E-a which is in better agreement with the calculated height of the potential barrier preventing the cluster decay.