Present Status and Issues of Carbon Nanotubes Alighned Growth Using Plasma Process 3. Synthesis of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes by Inductively Coupled Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

Inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition combined with substrate biasing using a gas mixture of methane and hydrogen was applied to low-temperature synthesis of aligned carbon nanotubes and nanofibers. We found that the resultant carbon nanotubes, which were grown at 500°C, were aligned perpendicular to the substrate, and the aligned carbon nanofibers were synthesized even at a growth temperature as low as 200°C. The growth mechanism of the aligned carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers is discussed in terms of the moderate etching of carbon deposit by hydrogen species in inductively coupled plasma.