Extended Data Fig. 9: Hidden orientational ordering of sp3 bonds in compressed C60.
Top: Structure model of a-D obtained from C60 after 30 GPa and 1600 K without long-time isothermal annealing (Extended Data Fig. 7a). Middle: 3D bond-orientation distribution function projected onto the unit sphere surface. Bottom: Two-dimensional stereographic projection of the bond-orientation function showing the pole figure of preferred bond orientations. The lines serve as a guide to the eye. Heterogeneous intensity distributions suggest that the sp3 bonds in the as-obtained a-D have preferred orientations, inherited from the initial parallel sp3 bonds in the early stage of polymerization.
