Amorphous diamond from C60 fullerene

Abstract
Amorphous diamond was successfully quenched from shock‐compressed C60 fullerene by rapid cooling technique. This material is transparent and homogeneous glassy chips, and exists stably at ambient conditions. X‐ray diffractometry showed a halo, and electron diffractometry showed a diffuse pattern similar to those of common amorphous carbon materials. Electron energy loss spectroscopy represented evidently σ‐electron state in sp3 hybridization completely equivalent to that of a typical diamond. Therefore, this material is defined in long range order to be amorphous and in short range order to be diamond, namely it can be said as amorphous diamond.