@article{11642,
  keywords = {buffer-gas cooling, molecules, spectroscopy},
  author = {Bryan Changala and Marissa Weichman and Kevin Lee and Martin Fermann and Jun Ye},
  title = {Rovibrational quantum state resolution of the C60 fullerene},
  abstract = {The unique physical properties of buckminsterfullerene, C<sub>60</sub>, have attracted intense research activity since its original discovery. Total quantum state-resolved spectroscopy of isolated C<sub>60</sub> molecules has been of particularly long-standing interest. Such observations have, to date, been unsuccessful owing to the difficulty in preparing cold, gas-phase C<sub>60</sub> in sufficiently high densities. Here we report high-resolution infrared absorption spectroscopy of C<sub>60</sub> in the 8.5-micron spectral region (1180 to 1190 wave number). A combination of cryogenic buffer-gas cooling and cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy has enabled the observation of quantum state-resolved rovibrational transitions. Characteristic nuclear spin statistical intensity patterns confirm the indistinguishability of the 60 carbon-12 atoms, while rovibrational fine structure encodes further details of the molecule's rare icosahedral symmetry.},
  year = {2019},
  journal = {Science},
  volume = {363},
  pages = {49-54},
  month = {2019-01},
  issn = {0036-8075},
  url = {http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6422/49},
  doi = {10.1126/science.aav2616},
}