Structure investigations of thin carbon foils

Abstract

Carbon foils produced by laser plasma ablation-deposition (lpa-foils), by the glow discharge process (gd-foils) and by evaporation-condensation (ec-foils) were investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. A quantitative analysis is presented for the degree of anisotropic orientation of the quasi-graphitic nanocrystals in the polycrystalline foils. In the new type lpa-foils the nanocrystals are nearly isotropically oriented, in contrast to the anisotropic alignment in the ec-and gd-foils. This random orientation is responsible for a longer lifetime of lpa-foils when irradiated with heavy ions.