▎ 摘　　要

We report a low-energy electron excitation effect on the formation of graphene nanocrystallites embedded in carbon films in an electron cyclotron resonance plasma. In this work, carbon films were deposited at different irradiation electron energies and fluxes monitored using a retarding field energy analyzer, while the deposition temperature was measured using an infrared thermometer. We found that the size and concentration of graphene nanocrystallites strongly depend on the irradiation electron energy and the electron flux but not the temperature, which indicates that the electron excitation effect of the covalent bonds dominates the formation process of these nanocrystallites. This finding shed light on the new fabrication method of 2D materials. Published by AIP Publishing.