Atomic resolution scanning tunneling microscope images of native and artificially created defect sites on graphite and carbon nanotubes were compared. The presence of position-dependent co-existing superstructure patterns was identified on all of the investigated samples. The results indicated that superstructure patterns were determined mainly by the available scattered states of the system rather than by the detailed structure of the defect site. An interference model was proposed which could explain the presence of co-existing superstructures on both graphite and carbon nanotubes. The model predicted a reduced corrugation amplitude for the case of graphite, as compared with carbon nanotubes, due to wave-vector averaging on the Fermi circle.

Complex Superstructure Patterns Near Defect Sites of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphite. L.Tapasztó, P.Nemes-Incze, Z.Osváth, M.C.Bein, A.Darabont, L.P.Biró: Physica E, 2008, 40[7], 2263-7