Formation of freestanding single-walled carbon nanotubes by plasma-enhanced CVD

Freestanding individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are successfully produced using plasma-enhanced (PE)CVD. The quantitative effects of plasmas on SWNT growth are also discussed on the basis of detailed plasma measure-ments and simple calculations. According to these quantitative results, it is found that the plasma sheath effectively plays the role of driving force in making individual SWNTs stand vertically on a substrate surface. This three-dimensional alignment control of individual SWNTs based on plasma science and technology has huge potential to create a new type of architecture for future nanotube devices.