Photoluminescence changes of C nano/submicro-crystals induced by high pressure and high temperature.

Hollow C nano/submicro-crystals with a fcc lattice structure were treated under various high pressure and high temperature conditions. The energy band structure was visibly changed by the high pressure and high temperature treatment, and the luminescence of the treated C nano/submicro-crystals were tuned from the visible to the near infrared range. In-situ high pressure experiments at room temperature indicate that pressure plays a key role in the tuning of the band gap and PL properties in C nanocrystals, and temperature plays an important role in the formation of stable intermolecular bonds and thus to define the final red-shift of the PL peaks. The polymeric phases of C nanocrystals treated at high pressure and high temperature were identified from their Raman spectra, which showed a change from monomers to a dimer-rich phase and finally to a phase containing larger, disordered C oligomers.