ABSTRACT
Carbon has been investigated as an electronic material for many years. By far the bulk of research has concentrated on diamond, although other forms of carbon, such as diamond-like carbon (DLC), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and fullerenes, have attracted considerable attention in more recent years. Yet, the commercial exploitation of carbon in active electronics remains elusive. 4.1 DiamondEarly work on the electronic properties of diamond used naturally occurring diamond stones. However, the natural variability of this material limited the active electronic applications of diamond. Nevertheless, enough significant research was undertaken on the small quantity of naturally occurring electrical quality stones to highlight the potential of diamond as an active electronic material.
