Spectroscopic study of impurities and associated defects in nanodiamonds from Efremovka (CV3) and Orgueil (CI) meteorites

The results of spectroscopic and structural studies of phase composition and of defects in nanodiamonds from Efremovka (CV3) and Orgueil (CI) chondrites indicate that nitrogen atomic environment in meteoritic nanodiamonds (MND) is similar to that observed in synthetic counterparts produced by detonation and by the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD)-process. Most of the nitrogen in MND appears to be confined to lattice imperfections, such as crystallite/twin boundaries and other extended defects, while the concentration of nitrogen in the MND lattice is low. It is suggested that the N-rich sub-population of MND grains may have been formed with high growth rates in environments rich in accessible N (i.e., N in atomic form or as weakly bonded compounds). For the first time the silicon-vacancy complex (the "silicon" defect) is observed in MND by photoluminescence spectroscopy.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Geochimica et Cosmochimica Act

First-principles study of the effect of charge on the stability of a diamond nanocluster surface

Effects of net charge on the stability of the diamond nanocluster are investigated using the first-principles pseudopotential method with the local density approximation. We find that the charged nanocluster favors the diamond phase over the reconstruction into a fullerene-like structure. Occupying the dangling bond orbitals in the outermost surface, the excess charge can stabilize the bare diamond surface and destabilize the C-H bond on the hydrogenated surface. In combination with recent experimental results, our calculations suggest that negative charging could promote the nucleation and further growth of low-pressure diamond.open8

Specific heat of the high Tc{T_c} organic superconductor κ−(ET)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br\kappa - ({\rm ET})_2{\rm Cu[N(CN)}_2]{\rm Br}

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