Nanoscale modification of electronic states of graphite by highly charged Ar-ion irradiation

This article describes a new nanomodification technique of electronic states. This technique involves highly charged ion (HCI) irradiation on the solid surface. The high potential energy of slow HCI, which induces multiple emission of electrons from the surface, provides a strong modification of the electronic states of the local area of surfaces. This unique process, induced by approaching slow HCI, converts metallic highly oriented pyrolytic graphite to a nonconductive structure, indicating the transformation of sp2 graphite to an sp3 nanoscale diamond-like structure.