Coiled structure of eccentric coaxial nanocable made of amorphous boron and silicon oxide

Exotic nanocable with coiled structure has been found in soot obtained by a reactive laser ablation as a byproduct of the formerly reported coaxial nanocables [Y. Zhang, K. Suenaga, C. Colliex, and S. Iijima, Science 281, 973 (1998)]. Electron energy-loss spectroscopic imaging has revealed the coaxial structure made of amorphous boron and silicon dioxide with amorphous carbon sheath. We infer that the coiled structure is attributed to a difference in the growth rate between amorphous boron and silicon dioxide that are found to comprise eccentric coaxial nanocable.