Direct observation of localized excitation in the lowest excited triplet state of fullerene dimers C120 and C120O by means of time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance

Time-resolved EPR spectra were observed by means of the transient EPR technique for two kinds of fullerene dimers C120 and C120O in the lowest excited triplet (T1) states and compared with those of mono-adducts of fullerene (C60). It was found that zero-field splitting (zfs) parameters of both dimers are nearly the same as those of the monomers, indicating that the excitation is almost completely localized at one of the two fullerene units in the T1 state. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.