The Raman spectrum of amorphous diamond

Abstract

We present the Raman spectrum of an amorphous, fully sp3-bonded carbon network. The reduced Raman spectrum agrees closely with the calculated density of states of diamond. The results have been obtained from nanoclusters produced deep inside a single crystal diamond irradiated with MeV He ions. The deep implantation creates amorphous sp3 bonded C clusters along the ion tracks, within a largely intact diamond matrix. The matrix maintains the clusters under high pressure, preventing the relaxation to sp2 bonded structures. Sharp peaks associated with defect structures unique to MeV ion implantation are observed at 1422, 1447, 1467, 1496, 1540, 1563, 1631, 1649, 1683 and 1726 cm-1. We also obse..