IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Nanotubes: Science and Applications Topical Conference Tuesday Sessions
       Session NT+EL+NS-TuM

Paper NT+EL+NS-TuM3
Patterned Growth of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers by High Density Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Tuesday, October 30, 2001, 9:00 am, Room 133

Session: Nanotubes: Growth and Characterization
Presenter: J.B.O. Caughman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Authors: J.B.O. Caughman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
V.I. Merkulov, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
D.H. Lowndes, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
E.D. Ellis, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
L.R. Baylor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
M.A. Guillorn, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs) are being studied for use as field emitters. The VACNFs have been grown on a nickel catalyst layer using a high density inductively coupled plasma source. The source operates at 13.56 MHz and couples power to the plasma via a flat spiral coil. A hydrogen and acetylene plasma is used to produce the precursors needed for growth. The aligned VACNFs are grown on a heated substrate located downstream from the ionization zone. The energy of the ions impacting the growth surface is controlled with radio frequency bias. Self-bias voltages are typically in the range of -50 to -300 V. Operating pressures are in the range of 50 to 200 mTorr and growth temperature is typically around 700 degrees C. Results show that the diameter of the VACNFs depends on the size of the nickel catalyst particle and are typically 25-100 nm in diameter. The height of the VACNFs depends on the growth time and bias conditions, with typical lengths of around 1 micron. The VACNFs have been grown on nickel patterns on silicon to form arrays of isolated emitters. The relationship between growth conditions and field emission will be presented.@footnote 1@ @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@ Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Dept. of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.