Transparent nanocrystalline diamond ceramics fabricated from [formula omitted] fullerene by shock compression

Abstract

Transparent nanocrystalline diamond ceramics, consisting of a few nanometer-sized diamond crystallites that are unstable in themselves because of higher surface energy, were fabricated successfully from [formula omitted] fullerene using a shock compression and rapid quenching technique. The platelets were transparent and very hard, nearly comparable to type IIa diamond. Transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy revealed that individual crystallites had combined directly or through a very thin and modified [formula omitted] carbon layer, which possibly stabilized the nanometer-sized crystallites. The size order and [formula omitted] configuration of the nanotexture caused the transparency and hardness of the present material. © 1997, American Institute of Physics. All rights reserved.