Carbyne, an infinite carbon chain, has attracted much interest and induced significant controversy for many decades. Recently, the presence of linear carbon chains (LCCs), which were confined stably inside double‐wall carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), has been reported. In this study, we present a novel method to produce LCCs in a film of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Our transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy revealed the formation of a bulk amount of LCCs after electric discharge of CNT films, which were used as field emission cathodes. The LCCs were confined inside single‐wall CNTs as well as DWCNTs. Furthermore, two or three LCCs in parallel with each other are encapsulated when the inner diameter of CNT is larger than approximately 1.1 nm.

Suppression of copper electrodeposition by two additives, suppressor and leveler, were studied using a microfluidic device. In industry, two suppressing agents, one a suppressor and the other a leveler, are usually added together into the plating bath for copper bottom-up TSV (Through Silicon Via) filling. Several studies, including our own previous one, suggest that the leveler is the essential agent for bottom-up filling, with its strong suppression and rapid deactivation. The suppressor shows moderate suppression and slow deactivation, and is believed to interfere with bottom-up deposition. It is unclear why bottom-up deposition is possible with co-addition of the suppressor and why co-addition is popular. In the present study, the suppressor and the leveler were supplied onto the plating surface sequentially, using a microchannel; it was found that the leveler replaces the suppressor. The leveler and suppressor were also supplied simultaneously; the suppressor initially covered most of plating surface, but the leveler gradually replaced the suppressor, and the plating surface was finally dominated by the leveler.

Atomic hydrogen is an active species that interacts with the surface of a carbon nanotube. We investigated the adsorption of atomic hydrogen on the cap of a carbon nanotube using field electron emission. We observed unusually stable adsorption sites on a field electron emission image of the cap after atomic hydrogen exposure. The adsorption sites on the cap were analyzed by comparing with a clean surface image of the cap, and found to be dependent on the structure of adsorbing hydrogen atoms, probably monomer or dimer. #

A single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) with well-defined structure has a potential as a probe of scanning microscopy. However, SWNT tip has not been applied to practical use yet because of the difficulty in the tip preparation. We have developed a technology for fabrication of SWNT tips with the yield rate of 25%. Various lengths and shapes of SWNT tips were examined as the probe of ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We found that the length of SWNT was a crucial factor for the application to STM. Atomic-scale resolution could be obtained on the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite with an SWNT tip shorter than 300 nm. In the case of ring type SWNT tip, which used the side wall of SWNT, the STM images depended on the scan direction due to the half-ring shape, and atomic-scale resolution could be obtained when scanned along the circumference direction of the ring. Although the stability of the SWNT tip during scanning needs to be improved, present results prove the potential of SWNT for STM probes.

In this study, multilayered catalyst layers with ionomer/carbon ratio (I/C ratio) were formed using electrospray deposition (ESD). The formed catalyst layer was used as the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for polarization measurements and electrochemical impedance measurements. The structures were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and the maximum power densities for the homogeneous and three-layer catalyst layers at 100% MEA humidity were 274 mW/cm2 and 312 mW/cm2, respectively, indicating the effectiveness of the multilayered catalyst layer in ESD. SEM-EDS observations showed that larger aggregates were observed at higher I/C ratios, which also affected the thickness of the layers, suggesting that multilayered I/C ratios may be accompanied by multilayered physical structures.