Control of high-density carbon nanotube structure formed by surface decomposition of SiC

Abstract

Well-aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) films were synthesized by surface decomposition of silicon carbide (SiC) (000-1). The SiC wafer was heated to 1500˚C at a very small heating rate under vacuum. TEM and electron diffraction patterns revealed that almost all the well-aligned CNTs formed perpendicularly to the SiC (000-1) surface are double-walled and zigzag type. In addition, the results of high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) indicate that the zigzag-type structure evolves from Si-C hexagonal networks in the SiC crystal by the collapse of carbon layers remaining after the process of decomposition.