Engineering the atomic structure of carbon nanotubes by a focused electron beam: new morphologies at the sub-nanometer scale.

Carbon atoms are displaced in pre-selected locations of carbon nanotubes by using a focused electron beam in a scanning transmission electron microscope. Sub-nanometer-sized holes are created that change the morphology of double and triple-walled carbon nanotubes and connect the shells in a unique way. By combining in situ transmission electron microscopy experiments with atomistic simulations, we study the bonding between defective shells in the new structures which are reminiscent of the shape of a flute. We demonstrate that in double-walled nanotubes the shells locally merge by forming nanoarches while atoms with dangling bonds can be preserved in triple-walled carbon nanotubes. In the latter system, nanoarches are formed between the inner- and outermost shells, shielding small graphenic islands with open edges between the neighboring shells. Our results indicate that arrays of quantum dots may be produced in carbon nanotubes by spatially localized electron irradiation, generating atoms with dangling bonds that may give rise to localized magnetic moments.