Creation of Novel Structured Nanocarbons Based on Plasma Technology

Original approaches using plasma processing technology have been performed in order to develop fullerene- and nanotube-based materials with new functions, where various kinds of plasma sources are devised: pair-ion plasma, alkali-fullerene plasma, and radio-frequency reactive plasma. As a result of the process control of these plasmas we have succeeded in creating novel structured nano carbons such as fullerene dimers, alkali-metal encapsulated fullerenes, individually-aligned pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes, and alkali-metal and/or fullerene encapsulated single-walled carbon nanotubes.