Preparation of freestanding carbon nanotubes using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are molecular-scale tubes of graphitic carbon with outstanding properties. They are among the stiffest and strongest fibers known, and have remarkable electronic properties and many other unique characteristics. In our experiment, CNTs were synthesized using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on the silicon wafer with patterned iron catalytic layer. If the catalyst is uniformly distributed, nanotubes grow everywhere on the substrate. If the catalyst is only located in certain areas (patterned), then nanotubes grow only in those areas. Iron catalytic layers with defined shapes and dimensions were prepared for carbon nanotubes growth. Various dimensions of these shapes were fabricated to monitor influence of catalytic layers. There were produced shapes from 100 nm to 10 µm dimensions. Freestanding carbon nanotubes were prepared in our experiment.