The extreme instability and strong chemical activity of carbyne, the infinite sp 1 hybridized carbon chain, are responsible for its low possibility to survive at ambient conditions. Therefore, much less has been possible to explore about carbyne as compared to other novel carbon allotropes like fullerenes, nanotubes and graphene. Although end-capping groups can be used to stabilize a carbon chain, length limitation is still a barrier for its actual production, and even more for applications. Here, we report on a novel route for bulk production of record long acethylenic linear carbon chains protected by thin double-walled carbon nanotubes. A corresponding extremely high Raman band is the first proof of a truly bulk yield formation of very long arrangements, which is unambiguously confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Our production establishes a way to exceptionally long stable carbon chains, and an elegant forerunner towards the final goal of a bulk production of essentially infinite carbyne.Different kinds of allotropes can be formed from elemental carbon due to its sp n hybridization 1 . 1 arXiv:1507.04896v2 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

We present the first experimental demonstration of zero backscattering from nanoparticles at optical frequencies as originally discussed by Kerker et al. [ Kerker , M. ; Wang , D. ; Giles , C. J. Opt. Soc. A 1983 , 73 , 765 ]. GaAs pillars were fabricated on a fused silica substrate and the spectrum of the backscattered radiation was measured in the wavelength range 600-1000 nm. Suppression of backscattering occurred at ~725 nm, agreeing with calculations based on the discrete dipole approximation. Particles with zero backscattering provide new functionality for metamaterials and optical antennas.

With a template-stripping fabrication technique, we demonstrate the mass fabrication of high-quality, uniform, ultrasharp (10 nm) metallic probes suitable for single-molecule fluorescence imaging, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), and other near-field imaging techniques. We achieve reproducible single-molecule imaging with sub-20-nm spatial resolution and an enhancement in the detected fluorescence signal of up to 200. Similar results are obtained for TERS imaging of carbon nanotubes. We show that the large apex angle (70.5°) of our pyramidal tip is well suited to scatter the near-field optical signal into the far-field, leading to larger emission enhancement and hence to a larger quantum yield. Each gold or silver pyramidal probe is used on-demand, one at a time, and the unused tips can be stored for extended times without degradation or contamination. The high yield (>95%), reproducibility, durability, and massively parallel fabrication (1.5 million identical probes over a wafer) of the probes hold promise for reliable optical sensing and detection and for cementing near-field optical imaging and spectroscopy as a routine characterization technique.