Photofragmentation of C60 molecules following resonance excitation and ionization near the C 1s edge.

Fragmentation spectra of C{sub 60} molecules after selective resonant excitation and ionization of C 1{ital s} electrons have been found to differ remarkably. At the {pi}{sup *} preedge resonances the multiply charged ions show strong fragmentation. Above the 1{ital s} threshold the C{sub 60}{sup +} ion yield indicates that the slow photoelectrons can get recaptured. Relative fragmentation of the parent C{sub 60}{sup +} ions has been found to increase strongly above the threshold towards a maximum of about 20 eV kinetic energy of the photoelectron; this may be due to the excitation of the giant plasmon resonance.