A squad of researchers at North Carolina State University is manipulating carbon paper in intriguing ways . They create a third manakin ( or stage ) of self-coloured carbon , called Q - carbon , that burn when expose to scurvy levels of energy and is voiceless than adamant . They also developed a technique that can turn the Q - carbon into " diamond - related structures " without high temperatures and pressure level . Their finding were put out in late issue of theJournal of Applied PhysicsandAPL Materials .
They created the Q - carbon by surface a substrate like sapphire or glass with elemental carbon , which unlike plumbago or diamond — the two known form of solid carbon paper — does not have a regular , well - defined crystalline structure . They shell the carbon with a single laser pulse for 200 nanosecond while at the same time heating it to a scorch 3727 ° C , then speedily cooling it .
The resulting Q - carbon paper is unparalleled among satisfying carbons in that it isferromagnetic , which means that like iron , cobalt , and nickel , it retains its magnetism even after a charismatic plain has been remove . In apress statement , pass generator Jay Narayan said the research worker had n’t thought it was even potential for Q - carbon copy to be ferromagnetic . He added that the strength of Q - carbon paper and its down work - single-valued function , or " willingness to expel negatron , " could make it useful in the land of electronic display technical school . If this unusual material is found in the instinctive world , Narayan said , it ’s " peradventure in the sum of some planet . "
So far , the scientist have found that they can produce Q - carbon film to be between 20 nm and 500 millimicron thick , and bychanging the rate at which the carbon paper is cool , they can create baseball field - like structure within the form of solid carbon . " We can create diamond nanoneedles or microneedles , nanodots , or large - area ball field films,“Narayan said ; all have potential utilization in electronics and other program program . “ And it is all done at elbow room temperature and at ambient air . … So , not only does this allow us to produce new applications , but the process itself is comparatively inexpensive . "
The researchers have filed probationary patent of invention for both Q - carbon and the technique that grow the diamond bodily structure .
