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Phys. Rev. B 75, 233408 (2007) [4 pages]

High-temperature formation of concentric fullerene-like structures within foam-like carbon: Experiment and molecular dynamics simulation

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D. W. M. Lau1, D. G. McCulloch1, N. A. Marks2, N. R. Madsen3, and A. V. Rode3
1Applied Physics, School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia
2School of Physics, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
3Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia

Received 14 February 2007; revised 11 April 2007; published 15 June 2007

The formation mechanism of carbon onions is investigated. The microstructure of onions formed using pulsed-laser deposition is found to depend critically on the background gas pressure. Molecular dynamics simulations show that an optimal annealing temperature of 4000 K is required to form well-ordered onions (concentric fullerene-like spheres), in agreement with experiment. The onions form from the outer layer first, and a model is presented in which the background pressure must be sufficient to allow atoms to cluster, yet low enough to allow annealing into well-ordered onions.

© 2007 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.75.233408
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevB.75.233408
PACS:
61.48.+c, 61.43.Bn, 68.37.Lp, 81.15.Fg
 
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