Abstract
Combined field ion and electron microscopy and mass-spectrometry have revealed the presence oflinear carbon chains at the surface of sharpened carbon fibers treated by electric fields of the orderof 1011 V m−1. Linear chains attached to carbon tips consisting of more than ten atoms can be producedin situ in a field emission microscope using low-temperature pulsed-voltage fieldevaporation. The process of field evaporation is sporadic with an anomalously large instantrate of evaporation. Current versus voltage field electron characteristics of monoatomiccarbon wires were investigated. By employing molecular dynamics simulation it was shownthat atomic C-chains can be produced during the high-field unraveling of nanofibers. Thesechains are perfectly resolved both in electron and ion modes of the field emissionmicroscope.
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