Pairwise cobalt doping of boron carbides with cobaltocene

We have performed Co K -edge x-ray absorption fine structure and x-ray absorption near edge structure measurements of Co-doped plasma enhanced chemical vapor phase deposition (PECVD) grown " C 2 B 10 H x " semiconducting boron carbides, using cobaltocene. Cobalt does not dope PECVD grown boron carbides as a random fragment of the cobaltocene source gas. The Co atoms are fivefold boron coordinated ( R = 2.10 ± 0.02 Å ) and are chemically bonded to the icosahedral cages of B 10 C H x or B 9 C 2 H y . Pairwise Co doping occurs, with the cobalt atoms favoring sites some 5.28 ± 0.02 Å apart.