ULTRAHARD AND SUPERHARD CARBON PHASES PRODUCED FROM C-60 BY HEATING AT HIGH-PRESSURE - STRUCTURAL AND RAMAN STUDIES

Investigations of X-ray diffraction patterns, Raman spectra, hardness and other physical properties were carried out for fullerite after a heat treatment up to 1830 K at 9.5 and 13 GPa nonhydrostatic pressure of bulk samples. Both superhard and ultrahard forms of carbon have been obtained from C-60 at 620-1830 K. The hardness of the materials exceeded that of diamond. The X-ray and Raman measurements have shown that both crystal structures and fullerene molecules were retained in superhard and ultrahard states, but a gradual increase of disorder occurred and a random network of linked molecules at high temperatures was formed.