Structural and electrical properties of intercalated and ion-implanted highly ordered graphite fibers

Because of their high degree of structural order, high mechanical strength, and small diameter (∼1 μm), benzene-derived graphite fibers provide an excellent host material for a structural analysis of both the intercalation and ion-implantation processes in graphite. Using the $c$-axis lattice imaging technique, with a high-resolution electron microscope, we observe well-staged intercalated regions in this fiber matrix. With regard to ion implantation, we find a distribution in the density of lattice defects with depth from the fiber surface. Ion implantation is also found to increase the graphite interlayer spacing. This information is correlated with electrical properties of these fibers.