Growth of fullerene-like carbon nitride thin solid films consisting of cross-linked nano-onions

Fullerene-like CNx (x≈0.12) thin solid films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering of graphite in a nitrogen and argon discharge on cleaved NaCl and Si(001) substrates at 450 °C. As-deposited films consist of 5 nm diam CNx nano-onions with shell sizes corresponding to Goldberg polyhedra determined by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Electron energy loss spectroscopy revealed that N incorporation is higher in the core of the onions than at the perimeter. N incorporation promotes pentagon formation and provides reactive sites for interlinks between shells of the onions. A model is proposed for the formation of CNx nano-onions by continuous surface nucleation and growth of hemispherical shells.