Field emission from adsorbed fullerene molecules

We have observed much variety of field emission microscopy (FEM) patterns from C60 molecules, including patterns that are much larger than the geometrical shape of C60 and very similar to those of simple atomic orbitals. It has been reported that C60 possesses unoccupied super atomic molecular orbitals (SAMOs) on the basis of theoretical investigations and experimental observations by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The obtained FEM images indicate that electrons are emitted through the SAMO states and that the FEM images reflect the projections of the orbitals of molecules where electrons are emitted from.