Carbon nanotubes grown on different-sized rectangular patterns

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes have been synthesized by chemical vapor deposition using a thin iron film as catalyst on the silicon substrate with different-sized rectangular patterns. It is found that the carbon nanotubes grow vertically to the substrate in a high density with a surface shape similar to that of the substrate when the line width of the patterns are larger than 1 μm, However, when the line width of the pattern is reduced to below 0.5 μm, carbon nanotubes cannot grow vertically anymore. This phenomenon might be caused by the relaxation of stress in catalyst film and the coalescence of the catalyst clusters to form particles or grains, which contributes to the migration of catalyst from edge to inner part during the nucleation process. These results are very useful for the fabrication of field-emission displays and other devices using patterned carbon nanotubes.