Thin film of spherical carbon onions onto silver Original Research Article

We have performed high dose carbon ion implantation into polycrystalline silver substrates at high temperature (500–600 °C). The formation of a high density of spherical carbon onions on the nearby silver substrate was characterized by atomic force microscopy experiments and transmission electron microscopy. The influence of the implantation temperature as well as that of silver grain sizes and crystallographic orientations are analysed.