Structural Modification of Single Wall and Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes under Carbon, Nickel and Gold Ion Beam Irradiation

Thin film samples of carbon nanotubes were irradiated with ion beam of carbon, nickel and gold. The irradiation results were characterized using Raman Spectroscopy. Modifications of the disorder mode (D mode) and the tangential mode (G mode) under different irradiation fluences were studied in detail. Raman results of carbon ion beam indicate the interesting phenomenon of ordering of the system under irradiation. Under the effect of nickel and gold ion irradiation, the structural evolution of CNTs occurs in three different stages. At lower fluences the process of healing occurs; at intermediate fluences damages on the surface of CNTs occurs and finally at very high fluences of the order of 1x1014 ions/cm2 the system gets amorphised.