Effect of Co and Ni nanoparticles formation on carbon nanotubes growth via PECVD

The effect of cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) nanoparticle catalysts on the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were studied, where the CNTs were vertically grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) method. The growth conditions were fixed at a temperature of 700 °C with a pressure of 1000 mTorr for 40 minutes with various thicknesses of sputtered metal catalysts. Only multi-walled carbon nanotubes are present from the growth as large average diameter of outer tube (～10–30 nm) were measured for both of the catalysts used. Experimental results show that high density of CNTs was observed especially towards thicker catalysts layers where larger and thicker nanotubes were formed. The nucleation of the catalyst with various thicknesses was also studied as the absorption of the carbon feedstock is dependent on the initial size of the catalyst island. The average diameter of particle size increases from 4 to 10 nm for Co and Ni catalysts. A linear relationship is shown between the nanoparticle size and the diameter of tubes with catalyst thicknesses for both catalysts. The average growth rate of Co catalyst is about 1.5 times higher than Ni catalyst, which indicates that Co catalyst has a better role in growing CNTs with thinner catalyst layer. It is found that Co yields higher growth rate, bigger diameter of nanotube and thicker wall as compared to Ni catalyst. However, variation in Co and Ni catalysts thicknesses did not influence the quality of CNTs grown, as only minor variation in I_G/I_D ratio from Raman spectra analysis. The study reveals that the catalysts thickness strongly affects not only nanotube diameter and growth rate but also morphology of the nanoparticles formed during the process without influencing the quality of CNTs.     

预置镍化学气相沉积法制备定向碳纳米管(英文)

采用化学气相沉积法(CVD),在溅射了镍薄膜的硅基底上制备了定向碳纳米管薄膜。对镍薄膜的氨气预处理过程及其机理进行了研究。结果发现预处理后的岛状区域随着薄膜厚度的增加而增加,纳米粒子区域的变化则与之相反。对5nm的镍薄膜进行预处理能获得细化和均匀分布的纳米粒子,有利于定向碳纳米管的生长。碳纳米管的生长过程及其细微结构与温度有很大关系。碳源的分解、碳原子在催化剂内部的扩散以及催化剂粒子的团聚三者之间的竞争决定了碳纳米管的生长情况。本文分析了碳纳米管的顶部生长模式及该模式下催化剂粒子的形态变化。     

Photolithographic fabrication of gated self-aligned parallel electron beam emitters with a single-stranded carbon nanotube

In this paper we report on the development of a photolithographic process to fabricate a gated-emitter array with single-stranded carbon nanotubes (CNTs) self-aligned to the center of the emitter gate using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Si tips are formed on a silicon wafer by anisotropic etching of Si using SiO(2) as a mask. Deposition of a SiO(2) insulating layer and Cr-W electrode layers creates protrusions above the Si tips. This wafer is polished, and the Cr-W on the tips is removed. Etching of the SiO(2) using hydrofluoric acid is performed to expose the gated Si tip. Incorporation of a novel diffusion process produces single-stranded CNTs by depositing a thin Ni layer on the Si tips and thermally diffusing the Ni layer to yield a catalyst particle for single-stranded CNT growth. The large surface to volume ratio at the apex of the Si tip allows a Ni particle to remain to act as a catalyst to grow a single-stranded CNT for fabricating the CNT based emitter structure. Diffusion of the Ni is carried out in situ during the heating phase of the PECVD CNT growth process at 600?°C. The diameters of the observed CNTs are on the order of 20?nm. The field emission characteristics of the gated field emitters are evaluated. The measured turn-on voltage of the gated emitter is 5?V.     

Growth control of carbon nanotubes by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), which enables growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) directly onto a solid substrate, is considered to be a suitable method for preparing CNTs for nanoelectronics applications such as electron sources for field emission displays (FEDs). For these purposes, establishment of an efficient CNT growth process has been required. We have examined growth characteristics of CNTs using a radio frequency PECVD (RF-PECVD) method with the intention to develop a high efficiency process for CNT growth at a low enough temperature suitable for nanoelectronics applications. Here we report an effect of pretreatment of the catalyst thin film that plays an important role in CNT growth using RF-PECVD. Results of this study show that uniform formation of fine catalyst nanoparticles on the substrate is important for the efficient CNT growth.     

Growth of metal-free carbon nanotubes on glass substrate with an amorphous carbon catalyst layer

We have investigated the direct growth of metal-free carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on glass substrates with microwave-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD). Amorphous carbon (a-C) films were used as a catalyst layer to grow metal-free CNTs. The a-C films were deposited on Corning glass substrates using RF magnetron sputtering with the use of a carbon target (99.99%) at room temperature. They were pretreated with hydrogen plasma using a microwave PECVD at 600 degrees C. Then, CNTs were prepared using microwave PECVD with a mixture of methane (CH4) and hydrogen (H2) gases. The CNTs were grown at different substrate temperatures (400 degrees C, 500 degrees C, and 600 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Other conditions were fixed. The growth trends of CNTs against substrate temperature were observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The structure of a-C catalyst layer and grown CNTs were measured by Raman spectroscopy. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) images showed that the CNTs had bamboo-like multi-walled structures. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) measurements confirmed that the CNTs consisted of only carbon.     

Multi-branching carbon nanotubes via self-seeded catalysts

A novel multi-branching carbon nanotube (CNT) structure is synthesized by direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The structure consists of aligned CNTs which have branches of smaller diameters growing aligned along a direction perpendicular to the original CNT. The mechanism of branching is explained in terms of a self-seeding of Ni catalyst which is transferred by sputtering from the original catalyst particles in the backbone CNTs to the walls of those CNTs. It is also shown that the branching induced a large increase in surface area and total nanotube length and can be beneficial in supporting very fine Pt nanoparticles for fuel cell and other catalytic applications. Such an array of Y-junction nanostructures could be useful for the fabrication of a high-density array of nanoelectronics switches and transistors.     

镁-镍合金催化剂制备及纳米碳管生长模式研究

采用多元醇法制备镁-镍合金纳米粉末,并以此为催化剂制备纳米碳管,利用比表面和孔径分布测定仪、X射线衍射仪和透射电镜,研究镁-镍合金催化剂的性能和纳米碳管的生长模式。结果表明:Mg∶Ni值对镁-镍合金催化剂特性影响较大,其中Mg∶Ni为1的催化剂颗粒比表面积较大且平均粒径较小;聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)用量增大,有利于提高催化剂颗粒的比表面积、减小平均粒径,但用量过大不利于Mg2Ni合成。在以镁-镍合金为催化剂制备碳纳米管的过程中,首先在催化剂表面形成碳膜,随后形成的碳膜将前期形成的碳膜及催化剂颗粒向外推挤,催化剂颗粒移动后遗留下中空隧道,最终形成碳管,由于纳米碳管尖端的催化剂颗粒反应后失去催化活性,碳管的生长动力主要来自碳管根部。     

Carbon nanotube synthesis from propane decomposition on a pre-treated Ni overlayer

Growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was performed by atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition (APCVD) of propane on Si(111) with a pre-treated Ni overlayer acting as a catalyst. Prior to the growth of CNTs, a thin film of Ni was deposited on Si(111) substrate by evaporation and heat treated at 900°C. The growth of nanotubes was carried out at 850°C using propane as a source of carbon. Distribution of the catalyst particles over the Si substrate was analysed before and after heat treatment by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the grown material revealed that they are graphitic in nature. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to investigate the growth process and it was found that a catalytic particle was always situated at the tip of the tube thus implying a tip growth mechanism. Evidence for the presence of radial breathing mode from multi-wall nanotubes (MWNTs) in the grown sample was obtained from micro-Raman analysis. Finally, high-resolution transmission electron microscopic (HRTEM) analysis confirmed that the graphene layers of the CNTs are well ordered with typical 0·34 nm spacing.     

Synthesis and characterization of vertically aligned carbon nanotube forest for solid state fiber spinning

Continuous carbon nanotubes (CNT) fibers were directly spun from a vertically aligned CNT forest grown by a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process. The correlation of the CNT structure with Fe catalyst coarsening, reaction time, and the CNTs bundling phenomenon was investigated. We controlled the diameters and walls of the CNTs and minimized the amorphous carbon deposition on the CNTs for favorable bundling and spinning of the CNT fibers. The CNT fibers were fabricated with an as-grown vertically aligned CNT forest by a PECVD process using nanocatalyst an Al2O3 buffer layer, followed by a dry spinning process. Well-aligned CNT fibers were successfully manufactured using a dry spinning process and a surface tension-based densification process by ethanol. The mechanical properties were characterized for the CNT fibers spun from different lengths of a vertically aligned CNT forest. Highly oriented CNT fibers from the dry spinning process were characterized with high strength, high modulus, and high electrical as well as thermal conductivities for possible application as ultralight, highly strong structural materials. Examples of structural materials include space elevator cables, artificial muscle, and armor material, while multifunctional materials include E-textile, touch panels, biosensors, and super capacitors.     

On the role of activation mode in the plasma- and hot filaments-enhanced catalytic chemical vapour deposition of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

Catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) with different activation modes (thermal; hot filaments-enhanced; direct current plasma-enhanced and both hot filament and direct current plasma-enhanced) are achieved in order to grow vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA CNTs). By widely varying the power of the different activation sources of the gas (plasma, hot filaments, substrate heating) while keeping identical the substrate temperature (973 K) and the catalyst preparation, the results point out the important role of ions in the nucleation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), as well as the etching behaviour of highly activated radicals such as H˙ in the selective growth of vertically aligned films of CNTs. Moreover, it is demonstrated that, within the deposition conditions (temperature, pressure, flow rate) used in this study, oriented carbon nanotubes can be grown only when both ions, mainly generated by the gas discharge plasma, and highly reactive radicals, mainly formed by the hot filaments, are produced in the gas phase. We propose that highly energetic ions are needed to nucleate the carbon nanotubes by increasing the carbon concentration gradient whereas the highly reactive radicals allow the selective growth of vertically aligned CNTs by preventing carbon deposition on the whole surface through chemical etching of edge carbons in graphene sheets.     

High-rate low-temperature growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

We report the low-temperature growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at high growth rates by a photo-thermal chemical vapour deposition (PTCVD) technique using a Ti/Fe bilayer film as the catalyst. The bulk growth temperature of the substrate is as low as 370?°C and the growth rate is up to 1.3 μm min(-1), at least eight times faster than the values reported by traditional thermal CVD methods. Transmission electron microscopy observations reveal that as-grown CNTs are uniformly made of highly crystalline 5-6 graphene shells with an approximately 10 nm outer diameter and a 5-6 nm inner diameter. The low-temperature rapid growth of CNTs is strongly related to the unique top-down heating mode of PTCVD and the use of a Ti/Fe bimetallic solid solution catalyst. The present study will advance the development of CNTs as interconnects in nanoelectronics, through a CMOS-compatible low-temperature deposition method suitable for back-end-of-line processes.     

Root growth of multi-wall carbon nanotubes by MPCVD

This work examines the relationships among the growth and interlayer reactions of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to develop an effective process for controlling the nanostructure, orientation and characteristics of CNTs. Vertically oriented CNTs were successfully synthesized by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) with CH₄/H₂ as source gases. Additionally, the Ti and SiO₂ barrier layers and the Co catalyst were used in an experiment on the growth of CNTs on the Si wafer. Then, the SiO₂ barrier layer was deposited by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The Ti barrier layer and Co catalyst films were deposited on the Si wafer by physical vapor deposition (PVD). The deposited nanostructures were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, the results of which reveal that the deposited MWCNTs were grown under the influence of a catalyst on Si substrates with or without a barrier layer, by MPCVD. Vertically grown, dense MWCNTs attached to a catalytic film demonstrate that various MWCNTs penetrated the root particles. The diameter of the root particles, of approximately in the order of 100 nm, is larger than those of the tube, 10–15 nm. The well-known model of the growth of CNTs includes base- and tip-root growth. The interaction between the catalytic film and the supporting barrier layer is suggested to determine whether the catalytic particles are driven up or pinned down on the substrate during the growth.     

Effect of ion bombardment on the synthesis of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

The synthesis of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-SWNTs) by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was achieved at 500-600?°C, using ethylene as the carbon source and 1?nm Fe film as the catalyst. For growth of high-quality VA-SWNTs in a plasma sheath, it is crucial to alleviate the undesirable ion bombardment etching effects by the optimization of plasma input power and gas pressure. The resistibility of synthesized VA-SWNTs against ion bombardment etching was found to be closely related to the growth temperature. At relatively low temperature (500?°C), the VA-SWNTs were very susceptible to ion bombardments, which could induce structural defects, and even resulted in a structural transition to few-walled nanotubes. For capacitively coupled radio frequency (rf) PECVD operating at moderate gas pressure (0.3-10?Torr), the ion bombardment etching effect is mainly dependent on the ion flux, which is related to the plasma input power and gas pressure.     

Synthesis Peculiarities of CNT “Forest” Under Conditions of Adding a Regulated Plasma Component of the Working Gas

It has been shown that in case of adding a regulated plasma component of gas to the working gas mixture, the synthesis by the PECVD method of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on catalytic centers formed from a thin film deposited by vacuum-arc sputtering of a catalyst leads to the formation of nanotubes of two morphological types: forest and multiwall CNTs with surface substructure. Carbon nanotubes have their growth centers located either on solid crust formed on the substrate surface owing to the plasma component or directly on the substrate surface, when sufficiently small (5–20 nm) catalytic high-density centers are formed on this substrate. Plasma component forms a well-developed surface on multiwall nanotubes that is important for their practical application.     

Pulsed laser dewetting of nickel catalyst for carbon nanofiber growth

We present a pulsed laser dewetting technique that produces single nickel catalyst particles from lithographically patterned disks for subsequent carbon nanofiber growth through plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Unlike the case for standard heat treated Ni catalyst disks, for which multiple nickel particles and consequently multiple carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are observed, single vertically aligned CNFs could be obtained from the laser dewetted catalyst. Different laser dewetting parameters were tested in this study, such as the laser energy density and the laser processing time measured by the total number of laser pulses. Various nickel disk radii and thicknesses were attempted and the resultant number of carbon nanofibers was found to be a function of the initial disk dimension and the number of laser pulses.     

Ni催化剂在N2O／N2／NH3中退火对碳纳米管表面结构及场发射特性的影响

研究在N2O/N2/NH3氛围中对Ni催化剂进行退火处理,旨在探讨退火处理对所生成碳纳米管的表面结构及其发射特性的影响.从表面结构及表面元素分析结果发现:Ni催化剂在N2O/N2/NH3氛围中退火处理之后,Ni催化剂的颗粒大小及催化剂的化学成分发生改变,进而影响所合成的碳纳米管的表面结构及场发射特性.扫描电镜显示:经过N2O退火前处理后,催化金属薄膜在成核时较易形成均匀性的金属颗粒,且金属颗粒较小.比较经N2O/N2/NH3氛围退火处理之后所合成的碳纳米管结果,经过N2O前处理可以有效抑制非品质碳的成长,使所成长出的碳纳米管数量最多、场发射电流最大.原因主要是因为N2O对催化剂镍膜金属前处理过程中分解出的氮原子及氧原子会活化及氧化催化剂Ni金属,并使所形成的Ni金属颗粒较小且更为均匀,造成表面型态上的显著改变,有助于使合成的碳纳米管场发射电流变大.     

An efficient fabrication of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes on flexible aluminum foils by catalyst-supported chemical vapor deposition

An efficient and versatile growth of thin-layer carbon nanotubes on a flexible aluminum foil (for kitchen use) by catalyst-supported chemical vapor deposition is reported. The aluminum foil used in the present experiment is commercially available for kitchen use. The electron-beam vapor deposition and dip-coating have been used for preparing catalysts on the aluminum foil. Vertically aligned thin-layer CNTs with typical diameters of 2.5-6.0?nm and lengths up to 90?μm are obtained when ethanol is used in combination with Fe and Co catalyst particles at a growth temperature of around 650?°C under an Ar/H(2) gas flow. Thermo-gravimetric analyses together with HR-TEM observations indicate that the purity of the CNTs synthesized by the current technique is very high.     

The enhanced growth of multi-walled carbon nanotubes using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet

The growth of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) forests was investigated using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) system with a mixture of helium and acetylene gases. The MWCNT forests grown on Fe catalyst were compared with those grown on Ni. The growth of MWCNT forests using Fe as the catalyst was better than the growth of MWCNT forests using Ni. The MWCNT forests grown using Fe catalyst and with a plasma power of 30 W were about 17 ± 9% taller than for the plasma off. We were unable to grow MWCNTs using Ni catalyst with the plasma power off; but curly MWCNTs were grown using Ni catalyst if the plasma power was 30 W. It is found that MWCNT growth is enhanced using an APPJ. The height of the forests produced using this APPJ system was also better than that reported by other researchers using either CVD or PECVD systems.     

A Novel Process for High-efficient Synthesis of One-dimensional Carbon Nanoraaterials from Flames

The substrate pre-treatment plays a key role in obtaining hollow-cored carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and solidcored carbon nanofibers (CNFs) from flames. This paper introduces a simply and high-efficient process by coating a NiSO4 or FeSO4 layer on the substrate as catalyst precursors. Comparing with the regular pretreatment methods, the present experiments showed that the coating pre-treatment provided the following advantages: 1) greatly shortening the synthesis time; 2) available variant substrates and carbon sources; 3) narrowing the diameters distribution. The sulfate is considered to be a crucial factor at the growth of CNTs and CNFs, because it increases the surface energy of catalyst particles and the surface specificity of sulfurs action in metallic grains. This novel process provides a possibility for high quality and mass production of CNTs and CNFs from flames.     

A Novel Process for High-efficient Synthesis of One-dimensional Carbon Nanomaterials from Flames

The substrate pre-treatment plays a key role in obtaining hollow-cored carbon nanotubes （CNTs） and solid-cored carbon nanofibers （CNFs） from flames. This paper introduces a simply and high-efficient process by coating a NiSO4 or FeSO4 layer on the substrate as catalyst precursors. Comparing with the regular pre-treatment methods, the present experiments showed that the coating pre-treatment provided the following advantages： 1） greatly shortening the synthesis time; 2） available variant substrates and carbon sources; 3） narrowing the diameters distribution. The sulfate is considered to be a crucial factor at the growth of CNTs and CNFs, because it increases the surface energy of catalyst particles and the surface specificity of sulfurs action in metallic grains. This novel process provides a possibility for high quality and mass production of CNTs and CNFs from flames.