Electric field induced alignment of carbon nanotubes grown by CVD

In this report we present results of our experiments devoted to developing of the method for controllable growth of CNT aligned in different directions. For this purpose our usual setup for CVD was modified to provide shielding of the substrate from electric field existing between the cathode and the anode when the high voltage is applied to activate dc discharge. Generation of C₂ species occurs in the plasma, and then these species are deposited on the substrate surface via the holes in the mask. With appropriate conditions we were able to obtain CNT growth on various substrates. Also, shapes of randomly oriented CNT grown onto Ni plate and on quartz substrate patterned with Ni thin film stripes are shown. An application of bias voltage between the Ni stripes allows us to obtain partial alignment of CNT along the direction of the electric field between the stripes. This confirms a possibility to achieve controllable growth of the CNTs.