Freestanding Individual Single-walled Carbon Nanotube Synthesis Based on Plasma Sheath Effects

Abstract

We report the successful synthesis of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) at relatively low temperatures below 650°C using very short-time (30 s) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process. Based on the detailed transmission electron microscopy observation, it is revealed that all of the short-length SWNTs growing from catalysts which are fixed by zeolites form individual shapes. According to the comparison between general PECVD and our PECVD, several requirements for the SWNT growth under PECVD are claimed.