INTERACTIONS AND MOLECULAR ORIENTATIONS IN SOLID C₆₀

In spite of recent progress, our present understanding of the intermolecular interactions in solid C₆₀ is still imperfect and no single model is able to describe correctly its whole physical properties. These interactions induce elaborate orientational properties which have motivated thorough investigations. In this review paper we concentrate on the orientational properties in the high temperature phase. It is shown how the preferred orientations and the orientational correlations could be accessed through the analysis of the Bragg and diffuse scattering intensity data. The results obtained using either mean-field treatments or molecular dynamics calculations have brought information on the existence of competing local orientational orders. The scattering data have also been exploited to discriminate between different models of intermolecular potential. Within the mean-field treatment, necessary conditions for any model to satisfy scattering results are put forward.