Production and characterization of boron- and silicon-doped carbon clusters

Boron- and silicon-doped carbon clusters of the type BmCn (m = 1−4) and SimCn (m = 1, 2) have been produced via the laser-vaporization cluster beam technique. The observed features of the intensity distribution in mass spectra suggest that B atoms can be incorporated into the clusters with much higher efficiency than Si atoms. The mass spectral evidence is also consistent with the idea that SiCn(n ⩾ 30) and BCn(n ⩾ 30) clusters have a silicon- and boron-heterofullerene structure, respectively.