Enhanced graphene-edge-induced magnetism by O2 introduction during electron irradiation assisted carbon film growth

Abstract

We report the effects of the O2 introduction during electron irradiation assisted film growth on the structure and magnetic behavior of the graphene nanocrystallites embedded carbon (GNEC) films. It was found that although O2 was introduced into the chamber during film deposition, there were nearly no oxygen atoms incorporated into the film. The introduced O2 mainly had an effect on selectively removing the amorphous carbon (a-C) phase and gradually promoting the graphene nanocrystallite growth. Such effect brought about more graphene edges in the GNEC film, and then the saturation magnetization of the film Ms at 300 K increased from 0.10 emu/g to 0.28 emu/g. This research proposes an effective approach to enhance graphene-edge-induced carbon magnetism, providing fundamental basis for potential applications of graphene-based materials in magnetic devices.