Jahn-Teller distortions in solid C20 and other fullerene structures

We have used first principles molecular dynamics to determine the energies of Jahn-Teller distortions in a variety of neutral and negatively charged fullerene structures. We find that smaller structures have larger Jahn-Teller distortion energies. Solid C28 and solid C20, which have covalent bonds connecting the individual fullerene balls, are found to have energies which are much lower than the energies of their molecular components. The charged state of solid C20 is found to have a total distortion energy which is about six times larger than that of C−60.