Optimizing the conditions for carbon nanotube growth on silicon wafers coated with nickel thin films

In this work, the preparative conditions for optimizing growing carbon nanotube thin films on silicon wafers using an in-house chemical vapor deposition system was evaluated. We found that, when acetylene was used as the carbon source and nickel as the catalyst, the amount of carbon nanotubes grown on the silicon wafers was increased when the growth temperature was decreased from 800°C to 600°C. The carbon nanotubes were then characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tunneling electron microscopy (TEM). The results show the obtained carbon nanotube thin films were mainly composed of multi-walled carbon nanotubes.