US Patent 7790243 - Room temperature production of 3D carbon nano-onions

http://ip.com/patent/US7790243

Laser ablation of graphite is used in some methods of fabricating carbon nanostructures but require   pressurized inert gas at a high temperature. This patent from The Aerospace Corporation teaches a way to reduce the temperature to ambient levels during carbon nanomaterial fabrication. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method, comprising:

employing a laser process in an oxygen-containing atmosphere at room temperature to provide a substrate with a carbonaceous coating that includes nested carbon structures.