Nanostructured unsaturated carbon from laser-photo-polymerization of diacetylene Original Research Article

KrF laser irradiation of gaseous diacetylene induces photo-polymerization of diacetylene and results in chemical vapor deposition of nanostructured hydrogenated carbon whose structure is assessed from IR, Raman, photoelectron and Auger spectra as highly unsaturated C/H polymer containing carbon atoms mostly in sp2 state. The EPR spectrum of the deposit is strongly affected by the presence of oxygen. The results demonstrate the first example of laser chemical vapor deposition of unsaturated carbon phase from polyalkynes.