SEM/TEM of the Month
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 7/1/2002
Researchers at NASA Ames Center for Nanotechnology (Moffett Field, Calif.) have used a plasma CVD technique to grow vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). An inductively coupled plasma reactor is used to grow nanotubes on silicon from a feedstock of ethylene and hydrogen. Parameters such as pressure, inductive power, substrate power and gas composition are varied to control the density and height of the nanotubes. The image shows two SEMs, one positioned as an inset and both rotated to create a flag-like effect. The outer SEM shows a well-aligned MWCNT array, ~1 µm tall with nanotube diameter in the 20-40 nm range. The inset presents the top view of the same MWCNT array. Further information can be found at www.ipt.arc.nasa.gov.
Please send submissions for SEM/TEM of the Month to Peter
Singer, Editor-in-Chief, 58 Summer St., Andover, MA 01810 USA.
E-mail: sieditor@aol.com
