New type of atomic scale nanostructures in diamond-like and other carbon substances

To the date a lot of data on atomic scale nanostructures (ASNS) of natural carbon substances were published. The development of a systematic description of nanostructured substances, both synthetic and natural, is of crucial importance for fundamental and applied science. Here we present a systematic categorization of carbon nanostructures and a find of a new type of mixed (intermediate) ASNS existing in addition to the known ordered and disordered nanostructures. The mixed ASNS in natural diamond-like carbon is characterized by the simultaneous presence (spatial overlapping) of ordered and disordered irregularly arranged regions with short-range structural order, but with long range alignment of their general crystallographic orientation. The experimentally verified new type of ASNS represents a new building principle not only for carbon substances, but for solid matter as a whole. The find can open a new possibility for materials development and for theoretical and experimental modeling of solid state matter evolution.