Superhard conductive carbon nanocrystallite films

Abstract

Carbon films whose hardness is comparable to diamond’s, but whose electrical conductivity is 19 orders of magnitude larger, have been discovered. The films were deposited onto silicon substrates by electron cyclotron resonance plasma sputtering. The bonding structure of the film was mainly sp2. The film consisted of sp2 nanocrystallites having parallel and curved graphene sheets vertically oriented to the film surface. The sp2 nanocrystallites were connected with adjacent crystallites by sp3 bonding, which gives the film both its high hardness and conductivity. These sp2 nanocrystallite films will have many applications.