Production and asymmetric fragmentation of multicharged fullerene ions in ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{8+}{+\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ collisions

The stability of multicharged ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}^{q+}\hspace{0.5em}(3\mathrm{}<~q<~6)$ fullerene ions, produced by slow $(v=0.2\mathrm{}$ a.u.) ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{8+}$-ion impact, has been studied using coincidence measurements between outgoing projectiles, recoil ion fragments, and ejected electrons. Evidence was found for sequential evaporation of ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}^{3+}$, for competition between evaporation and fission of ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}^{4+}$, and for dominant asymmetric fission of ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}^{5+}$ into triply and quadruply charged even-numbered fullerene and low-mass singly charged and neutral carbon clusters.