Transformation-deformation bands in C60 after the treatment in a shear diamond anvil cell

The C-60 fullerene has been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy in a shear diamond anvil cell after applying pressure and shear deformation treatment of fcc phase. Shear transformation-deformation bands are revealed consisting of shear-strain-induced nanocrystals of linearly polymerized fullerene and polytypes, the triclinic, monoclinic, and hcp C-60, fragments of amorphous structures, and voids. Consequently, after pressure release, the plastic strain retains five high pressure phases, which is potentially important for their engineering applications. Localized shear deformation initially seems contradictory because high pressure phases of C-60 are stronger than the initial low pressure phase. However, this was explained by transformation-induced plasticity during localized phase transformations. It occurs due to a combination of applied stresses and internal stresses from a volume reduction during phase transformations. Localized phase transformations and plastic shear deformation promote each other, which produce positive mechanochemical feedback and cascading transformation-deformation processes. Since the plastic shear in a band is much larger than is expected based on the torsion angle, five phase transformations occur in the same region with no transformation outside the band. The results demonstrate that transformation kinetics cannot be analyzed in terms of prescribed shear, and methods to measure local shear should be developed.