Patterned growth of carbon nanotubes on Si substrates without predeposition of metal catalysts

Y. Chen*, J. Yu

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    17 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be readily synthesized on quartz or silicon-oxide-coated Si substrates using a chemical vapor deposition method, but it is difficult to grow them on pure Si substrates without predeposition of metal catalysts. We report that aligned CNTs were grown by pyrolysis of iron phthalocyanine at 1000°C on the templates created on Si substrates with simple mechanical scratching. Scanning electron microscopy and x-ray energy spectroscopy analysis revealed that the trenches and patterns created on the surface of Si substrates were preferred nucleation sites for nanotube growth due to a high surface energy, metastable surface structure, and possible capillarity effect. A two-step pyrolysis process maintained Fe as an active catalyst.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number033103
    JournalApplied Physics Letters
    Volume87
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 18 Jul 2005

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