O. Stephan et al., ONIONLIKE STRUCTURES AND SMALL NESTED FULLERENES FORMATION UNDER ELECTRON-IRRADIATION OF TURBOSTRATIC BC2N, Applied physics letters, 70(18), 1997, pp. 2383-2385
Turbostratic BC2N samples were exposed to intense irradiation regimes
in a high resolution electron microscope equipped with a field emissio
n gun. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) analysis was used to c
heck the sp(2)-bonding type and the composition of the starting materi
als. In highly crystalline areas, we observed a tendency for the basal
planes to curl and form large ''open'' onionlike features. According
to EELS quantification, no change of the composition occurs during the
ir formation. Very occasionally, small nested fullerenes of less than
10 shells each with dimensions of the very internal shell close to tha
t of a C-60 Were observed. These onions are thought to arise from the
bending of a few basal planes of the planar starting material. (C) 199
7 American Institute of Physics.