Electronic Absorption Spectra of the Fullerene $C_{60}$ :From a Molecule to Crystals

The change of electronic absorption spectra of the fullerene in the visibJe- near UV range was examined when the molecules aggregated into different clusters such as clusters in solution and clusters in thin films. Absorption peaks were observed at 2.73 eV. These peaks did probably not come from the feature of the isolated molecules but from the direct interaction of the molecules. Absorption peaks were also observed at 3.35 eV from grained fullerene films. We think these peaks came from the interaction of the molecules at interfaces of grains. Dichroism of this absorption was also found from samples with anisotropic macrostructures.