Fundamentals and Applications of Diamond and Nanocarbons

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physica status solidi (a)Volume 210, Issue 10 p. 1960-1960 PrefaceFree Access Fundamentals and Applications of Diamond and Nanocarbons First published: 18 October 2013 https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201370066AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Dear colleagues, It is our pleasure to present you this year's Special Issue of physica status solidi (a) focussed on diamond and nanocarbons. The 22 papers presented here reflect last year's progress in a variety of subjects ranging from fundamental to applied aspects of diamond films, crystals, and nanocarbons. Besides a continuing attention to hot topics like the creation and subsequent characterisation of colour centres, the increasing quality of monocrystalline diamond has led to a renewed focus on elementary aspects like charge carrier transport, to name but one. The paper by Kozák and colleagues 1 is an excellent example, in which the authors shed more light on existing discrepancies in the published values of the diffusion constant in diamond by applying ultrafast laser spectroscopy techniques. This indicates that, despite the fact that diamond has now become a real engineering material, many basic aspects, like diffusion and recombination dynamics of excitons, remain not well understood or even unstudied. Diamond is foremost a material that is known for its extraordinary combination of extreme properties, making it an excellent choice for applications that need to endure harsh conditions. Power electronics is such a field, gaining quickly in importance in a world in need of efficient energy production and conversion. In the Feature Article by Takeuchi and co-workers 2 a high voltage vacuum power switch based on diamond PIN-junctions is proposed. Not only does it make use of diamond's ability to block high voltages, also the unique negative electron affinity present on H-terminated surfaces plays a key role, enabling the structure to act as an electron emitter. The proposed novel device concept already exhibits a breakthrough power transmission efficiency of 73% at 9.8 kV during room temperature operation, with a promising outlook on pushing the operational boundaries to values where only diamond can function! The continuous improvement of materials with extremely low defect levels and the use of single colour centres for quantum and photonic applications also call for more and more advanced characterisation tools. In the Invited Article by Turner et al. 3 a combination of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy is employed to investigate the presence of nitrogen impurities in detonation nanodiamond particles. In combination with density functional theory calculations, the authors prove that nitrogen is present in different configurations, from single atoms to large clusters, and that defective regions show an enriched presence of this element. This paper is an excellent example of the power of sophisticated characterisation techniques supported by theory, allowing studying complex carbon systems on the nanoscale. We are confident that these few cases highlight the diversity of research that can be found in the various articles present in this Special Issue, and hope that they may serve as a stimulus for your own investigations! Hasselt, Belgium, October 2013 Ken Haenen Miloš Nesládek References References 1 M. Kozák, et al., Phys. Status Solidi A 210, 2008– 2015 (2013). this issue. Wiley Online LibraryCASWeb of Science®Google Scholar 2 D. Takeuchi, et al., Phys. Status Solidi A 210, 1961– 1975 (2013). this issue. Wiley Online LibraryCASWeb of Science®Google Scholar 3 S. Turner, et al., Phys. Status Solidi A 210, 1976– 1984 (2013). this issue. Wiley Online LibraryCASWeb of Science®Google Scholar Volume210, Issue10October 2013Pages 1960-1960 ReferencesRelatedInformation