Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date

Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date
Scanning electron microscope images are of CNT forests with low and high density. Credit: Hisashi Sugime/U.Cambridge

Carbon nanotubes' outstanding mechanical, electrical and thermal properties make them an alluring material to electronics manufacturers. However, until recently scientists believed that growing the high density of tiny graphene cylinders needed for many microelectronics applications would be difficult.

Now a team from Cambridge University in England has devised a simple technique to increase the density of nanotube forests grown on conductive supports about five times over previous methods. The high density nanotubes might one day replace some metal electronic components, leading to faster devices. The researchers report their finding in the journal Applied Physics Letters, which is produced by AIP Publishing.

"The high density aspect is often overlooked in many carbon nanotube growth processes, and is an unusual feature of our approach," says John Robertson, a professor in the electronic devices and materials group in the department of engineering at Cambridge. High-density forests are necessary for certain applications of carbon nanotubes, like electronic interconnects and thermal interface materials, he says.

Robertson and his colleagues grew carbon nanotubes on a conductive that was coated with co-catalysts cobalt and molybdenum. In a novel approach, the researchers grew at lower temperature than is typical which is applicable in the . When the interaction of metals was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, it revealed the creation of a more supportive substrate for the forests to root in. The subsequent nanotube growth exhibited the highest mass density reported so far.

"In microelectronics, this approach to growing high-density carbon nanotube forests on conductors can potentially replace and outperform the current copper-based interconnects in a future generation of devices," says Cambridge researcher Hisashi Sugime. In the future, more robust forests may also help improve thermal interface materials, battery electrodes, and supercapacitors.

More information: The article, "Low temperature growth of ultra-high mass density carbon nanotube forests on conductive supports" by Hisashi Sugime, Santiago Esconjauregui, Junwei Yang, Lorenzo D'arsiƩ, Rachel A. Oliver, Sunil Bhardwaj, Cinzia Cepek and John Robertson appears in the journal Applied Physics Letters: dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4818619

Journal information: Applied Physics Letters

Citation: Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date (2013, September 20) retrieved 18 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2013-09-densest-array-carbon-nanotubes-grown.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

The incredible shrinking circuit

0 shares

Feedback to editors