Pulsed Growth of Vertically Aligned Nanotube Arrays with Variable Density

Abstract

The density of vertically-aligned carbon nanotube arrays is shown to vary significantly during normal growth by chemical vapor deposition and respond rapidly to changes in feedstock flux. Pulsing the feedstock gas to repeatedly stop and start nanotube growth is shown to induce density variations up to a factor of 1.6 within ~1-2 micron-long layers, allowing the synthesis of new array architectures with distinct regions of controllable length and density variation. The evolution of density within each layer of growth is determined from time-resolved optical reflectivity measurements of the height and optical extinction coefficient of the array as it grows, providing a real-time diagnostic of both density and growth kinetics. Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy of corresponding sections of the arrays is used to independently assess and confirm these density variations.