CARBON NANOCLUSTER COMPOSITES - SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND EXPECTATIONS

Characterization of carbon films deposited by arc evaporation of graphite by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and optical spectroscopy has shown that the films contained a composition of carbon clusters of different concentrations and sizes which could be affected by varying the film growth conditions. The films comprised highly textured microcrystals of hexagonal symmetry, immersed in amorphous carbon dust. Some of the films exhibited dc resistivity of the order of 10(4) OMEGA. cm at 300 K which decreased gradually upon cooling to 77 K. It has been shown experimentally that there is a possibility of control over the composition of films while retaining the same crystal structure which provides an opportunity to create a new family of carbon solids, where modification of energy bands due to overlap of molecular orbitals of constituent clusters allows tailoring of physical properties without other element doping.