Enhanced Raman scattering provided by fullerene nanoclusters

Observed in crystalline solutions of fullerenes in toluene and carbon tetrachloride, two new nonlinear optic effects are reported. Both are provided by a self-clustering of the solute molecules and are referred to fullerene enhanced Raman scattering (FERS) and solvent enhanced luminescence (SEL). The effects are induced by the excitation of charge transfer states of the fullerene nanoclusters that makes the latter to act as amplifiers of local electric fields.