High-Rate Growth and Nitrogen Distribution in Homoepitaxial Chemical Vapour Deposited Single-crystal Diamond

High rate （〉 50 μm/h） growth of homoepitaxial single-crystal diamond （SCD） is carried out by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition （MPCVD） with added nitrogen in the reactant gases of methane and hydrogen, using a polyerystalline-CVD-diamond-film-made seed holder. Photolumineseenee results indicate that the nitrogen concentration is spatially inhomogeneous in a large scale, either on the top surface or in the bulk of those as-grown SCDs. The presence of N-distribution is attributed to the facts： （i） a difference in N-incorporation efficiency and （ii） N-diffusion, resulting from the local growth temperatures changed during the high-rate deposition process. In addition, the formed nitrogen-vacancy eentres play a crucial role in N-diffusion through the growing crystal. Based on the N-distribution observed in the as-grown crystals, we propose a simple method to distinguish natural diamonds and man-made CVD SCDs. Finally, the disappearance of void defect on the top surface of SCDs is discussed to be related to a filling-in mechanism.     

Effects of Al and Ti/Cu on Synthesis of Type-IIa Diamond Crystals in Ni70Mn25Co5-C System at HPHT

High-quality type-Ⅱa gem diamond crystals are successfully synthesized in a NiToMn25Co5-C system by temperature gradient method （TGM） at about 5.5 GPa and 1560 K. Al and Ti/Cu are used as nitrogen getters respectively. While nitrogen getter Al or Ti/Cu is added into the synthesis system, some inclusions and caves tend to be introduced into the crystals. When Al is added into the solvent alloy, we would hardly gain high-quality type-Ⅱa diamond crystals with nitrogen concentration Nc 〈 1 ppm because of the reversible reaction of Al and N at high pressure and high temperature （HPHT）. Piowever, when Ti/Cu is added into the solvent alloy, high-quality type-Ⅱa diamond crystals with Nc 〈 1 ppm can be grown by decreasing the growth rate of diamonds.     

Influence of activated carbon surface acidity on adsorption of heavy metal ions and aromatics from aqueous solution

Adsorption of toxic heavy metal ions and aromatic compounds onto activated carbons of various amount of surface C-O complexes were examined to study the optimum surface conditions for adsorption in aqueous phase. Cadmium(II) and zinc(II) were used as heavy metal ions, and phenol and nitrobenzene as aromatic compounds, respectively. Activated carbon was de-ashed followed by oxidation with nitric acid, and then it was stepwise out-gassed in helium flow up to 1273 K to gradually remove C-O complexes introduced by the oxidation. The oxidized activated carbon exhibited superior adsorption for heavy metal ions but poor performance for aromatic compounds. Both heavy metal ions and aromatics can be removed to much extent by the out-gassed activated carbon at 1273 K. Removing C-O complexes, the adsorption mechanisms would be switched from ion exchange to Cπ-cation interaction for the heavy metals adsorption, and from some kind of oxygen-aromatics interaction to π-π dispersion for the aromatics.     

Fine-structured field emission images originating from coherently scattering of electrons within a multi-walled carbon nanotube

High resolution field emission image of a single multi-walled carbon nanotube was studied by field emission microscopy. The images contain patterns consisting of rather ordered bright fringes. We propose a model based on coherent electron scattering to explain the observed field emission image. The emitted electrons will undergo coherent scattering within the cap region of a multi-wall carbon nanotube, which may be viewed as elastic scattering by a polycrystalline structure with an infinite size. This study is helpful for understanding the physical mechanism of field emission of carbon nanotube.     

The breaking of quantum double symmetries by defect condensation

In this paper, we study the phenomenon of Hopf or more specifically quantum double symmetry breaking. We devise a criterion for this type of symmetry breaking which is more general than the one originally proposed in F.A. Bais, B.J. Schroers, J.K. Slingerland [Broken quantum symmetry and confinement phases in planar physics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 (2002) 181601]; Hopf symmetry breaking and confinement in (2+1)-dimensional gauge theory, JHEP 05 (2003) 068], and therefore extends the number of possible breaking patterns that can be described consistently. We start by recalling why the extended symmetry notion of quantum double algebras is an optimal tool when analyzing a wide variety of two-dimensional physical systems including quantum fluids, crystals and liquid crystals. The power of this approach stems from the fact that one may characterize both ordinary and topological modes as representations of a single (generally nonabelian) Hopf symmetry. In principle a full classification of defect mediated as well as ordinary symmetry breaking patterns and subsequent confinement phenomena can be given. The formalism applies equally well to systems exhibiting global, local, internal and/or external (i.e. spatial) symmetries. The subtle differences in interpretation for the various situations are pointed out. We show that the Hopf symmetry breaking formalism reproduces the known results for ordinary (electric) condensates, and we derive formulae for defect (magnetic) condensates which also involve the phenomenon of symmetry restoration. These results are applied in two papers which will be published in parallel [C.J.M. Mathy, F.A. Bais, Nematic phases and the breaking of double symmetries, arXiv:cond-mat/0602109, 2006; F.A. Bais, C.J.M. Mathy, Defect mediated melting and the breaking of quantum double symmetries, arXiv:cond-mat/0602101, 2006].     

Effect of Carbon Source with Different Graphitization Degrees on the Synthesis of Diamond

Using three kinds of graphites with different graphitization degrees as carbon source and Fe-Ni alloy powder as catalyst, the synthesis of diamond crystals is performed in a cubic anvil high-pressure and high-temperature apparatus （SPD-6 × 1200）. Diamond crystals with perfect hexoctahedron shape are successfully synthesized at pressure from 5.0 to 5.5GPa and at temperature from 1570 to 1770K. The synthetic conditions, nucleation, morphology, inclusion and granularity of diamond crystals are studied. The temperature and pressure increase with the increase of the graphitization degree of graphite. The quantity of nucleation and granularity ofdiamonds decreases with the increase of graphitization degree of graphite under the same synthesis conditions. Moreover, according to the results of the M6ssbauer spectrum, the composition of inclusions is mainly Fe3 C and Fe-Ni alloy phases in diamond crystals synthesized with three kinds of graphites.     

Nitrogen-Doped Chemical Vapour Deposited Diamond： a New Material for Room-Temperature Solid State Maser

Electron spin resonance （ESR） in polycrystalline diamond films grown by dc arc-jet and microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition is studied. The films with nitrogen impurity concentration up to 8 × 10^18 cm^-3 are also characterized by Raman, cathodoluminescence and optical absorption spectra. The ESR signal from P1 centre with g-factor of 2.0024 （nitrogen impurity atom occupying C site in diamond lattice） is found to exhibit an inversion with increasing the microwave power in an H102 resonator. The spin inversion effect could be of interest for further consideration of N-doped diamonds as a medium for masers operated at room temperature.     

Dependence of Limited Growth Rate of High-Quality Gem Diamond on Growth Conditions

The growth rate of diamond has been investigated for a long time and researchers have been attempting to enhance the growth rate of high-quality gem diamond infinitely. However, it has been found according to previous research results that the quality of diamond is debased with the increase of growth rate. Thus, under specific conditions, the growth rate of high-quality diamond cannot exceed a limited value that is called the limited growth rate of diamond. We synthesize a series of type Ib gem diamonds by temperature gradient method under high pressure and high temperature （HPHT） using the as-grown {100} face. The dependence of limited growth rate on growth conditions is studied. The results show that the limited growth rate increases when synthetic temperature decreases, also when growth time is prolonged.     

q-deformed Fermions

This is a study of q-Fermions resulting from q-deformed algebra of harmonic oscillators arising from two distinct algebras. Employing the first algebra, the Fock states are constructed for the generalized Fermions obeying Pauli exclusion principle. The distribution function and other thermodynamic properties such as the internal energy and entropy are derived. Another generalization of fermions from a different q-deformed algebra is investigated which deals with q-fermions not obeying the exclusion principle. Fock states are constructed for this system. The basic numbers appropriate for this system are determined as a direct consequence of the algebra. We also establish the Jackson Derivative, which is required for the q-calculus needed to describe these generalized Fermions.     

Micropatterned vertically aligned carbon-nanotube growth on a Si surface or inside trenches

The good field-emission properties of carbon nanotubes coupled with their high mechanical strength, chemical stability, and high aspect ratio, make them ideal candidates for the construction of efficient and inexpensive field-emission electronic devices. The fabrication process reported here has considerable potential for use in the development of integrated radio-frequency amplifiers or field-emission-controllable cold-electron guns for field-emission displays. This fabrication process is compatible with currently used semiconductor-processing technologies. Micropatterned vertically aligned carbon nanotubes were grown on a planar Si surface or inside trenches, using chemical vapor deposition, photolithography, pulsed-laser deposition, reactive ion etching, and the lift-off method. This carbon-nanotube fabrication process can be widely applied for the development of electronic devices using carbon-nanotube field emitters as cold cathodes and could revolutionize the area of field-emitting electronic devices. Received: 30 August 2001 / Accepted: 3 September 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001