AVS 49th International Symposium
    Nanotubes: Science and Applications Topical Conference Monday Sessions
       Session NT-MoM

Paper NT-MoM7
Growth of Aligned Arrays of Carbon Nanotubes from Patterned Catalyst Particles

Monday, November 4, 2002, 10:20 am, Room C-209

Session: Nanotubes: Growth and Characterization
Presenter: M.J. Bronikowski, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Authors: M.J. Bronikowski, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
D.S. Choi, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
M.E. Hoenk, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
R.S. Kowalczyk, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
F. Noca, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
M.E. Taylor, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
R.M. Williams, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
E.W. Wong, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
B.D. Hunt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are expected to have a wide variety of uses due to their many exceptional properties. In particular, regular arrays of CNT are expected to have applications ranging from biomolecular filters to nano-scale electronics, oscillators, and signal processors. Of central importance in such applications is the ability to grow arrays of CNT with identical dimensions and tube-tube spacings. This talk will discuss our recent efforts in JPL's Microdevices Laboratory toward this goal. CNT are grown from gaseous carbon-containing precursors (hydrocarbons, CO) on substrate surfaces such as Si or SiO2 by chemical vapor deposition (CVD): CNT nucleate and grow from nanometer-size particles of catalytic metals (Fe, Ni, Mo) that have been pre-deposited on the substrate. CNT dimensions and arrangement are determined by the size and arrangement of the catalyst dots, and by the CVD growth parameters. Various methods for controllably placing catalyst particles on surfaces will be demonstrated and discussed. In particular, methods for patterning catalytic metals with nanometer precision using self-assembling thin films of block copolymers will be presented.