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Support Controlled Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition of Carbon Nanotubes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Yunyu Wang
Affiliation:
yywang@mail.utexas.edu, University of Texas at Austin, Microelectronics Research Center, Austin, TX, 78757, United States
Bin Li
Affiliation:
libin@mail.utexas.edu, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, United States
Zhiquan Luo
Affiliation:
luozq@physics.utexas.edu, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, United States
Li Shi
Affiliation:
lishi@mail.utexas.edu, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, United States
Zhen Yao
Affiliation:
yao@physics.utexas.edu, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, United States
Eugene N Bryan
Affiliation:
enbryan@ncsu.edu, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27595, United States
Robert J Nemanich
Affiliation:
robert.nemanich @asu.edu, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, United States
Paul S Ho
Affiliation:
paulho@mail.utexas.edu, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, United States
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Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been grown by catalytical chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) with a thin iron layer as the catalyst. High surface tension metal, tantalum (Ta), and low surface tension, SiO2, have been deposited as the supporting layers before depositing the catalysts. SEM, TEM, STEM and EELS have been used to examine the morphology, structure, and chemical profile of iron nanoparticles and CNTs. The results have shown that the catalyst nanoparticle morphologies were distinctly different on two supports. In particular, Fe nanoparticles on SiO2 were found to follow a Vollmer-Weber (VW) growth mode and a Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth mode on Ta. It was also found that CNT growth varied significantly on two supports in terms of morphology, growth rate and growth mode. Dense CNTs were grown on Ta with fast growth rates (> 1µm/min) and vertical alignment for the iron thicknesses of 1.5-9 nm. In contrast, CNTs grown on SiO2 exhibited a slow growth rate (< 100 nm/min) with all deposited iron thicknesses, indicating a severe catalyst poisoning. The results suggested that the catalyst morphology in combination with the presence of an iron wetting layer contributed to the enhanced CCVD growth of CNTs on Ta.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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