Effects of carbon film roughness on growth of carbon nanotip arrays by plasma-enhanced hot filament chemical vapor deposition Original Research Article

Carbon nanotip arrays were grown from carbon films deposited on silicon substrates by plasma-enhanced hot filament chemical vapor deposition. The carbon films were characterized by the atomic force microscopy and micro-Raman spectrometry and the carbon nanotip arrays were investigated by micro-Raman spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photon spectroscopy. The results indicate that both carbon films and carbon nanotips are made of polyaromatic carbon with turbostratic structure. Carbon films possess various roughnesses, which greatly influence the nanotip growth rate. The theory related to plasma and sputtering effect is used to discuss the results.