Possible diamond-like nanoscale structures induced by slow highly-charged ions on graphite (HOPG)

The interaction between slow highly-charged ions (SHCI) of different charge states from an electron-beam ion trap and highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces is studied in terms of modification of electronic states at single-ion impact nanosize areas. Results are presented from AFM/STM analysis of the induced-surface topological features combined with Raman spectroscopy. I–V characteristics for a number of different impact regions were measured with STM and the results argue for possible formation of diamond-like nanoscale structures at the impact sites.