Fullerene-cluster amplifiers and nanophotonics of fullerene solutions

New enhanced linear optical effects were found for crystalline solutions of fullerenes in toluene. They are referred to as enhanced Raman scattering and enhanced luminescence of both solvent and fullerenes and are attributed to clustering the solute molecules themselves and solute and solvent molecules together. The effects are due to the excitation of localized charge-transfer excitons of the fullerene nanoclusters which makes the latter act as amplifiers of local electric fields. © 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.