Method of producing carbon material by bending at least one carbon atom layer of graphite

Abstract

A novel carbon material is obtained by bending at least one carbon atom layer of graphite in at least one selected region along either, or both, of lines I and II in FIG. 1. The bending can be accomplished by scanningly picking the carbon atom layer(s) with a probe of an atomic force microscope or another scanning microscope. The obtained carbon material has at least one round bend having a width of 0.1-10 nm and at least one flap region having a triangular, rectangular or still differently polygonal shape in plan view. When the carbon atom layer(s) is bent with very small radii of curvature, a finely striped ridge-and-groove structure appears in the round bend. The physical properties of the obtained carbon material are uniquely determined by the direction(s) of bending, width of each bend, shape and size of each flap region and the stripe pitch of the ridge-and-groove structure.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.