Effect of Surface Structure of Sapphire A-Face on Directional Carbon Nanotube Growth

The surface structure change of sapphire A-face (1 1 —2 0) by heating in air has been investigated from the viewpoint of its influence on the aligned growth of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The step shape was getting regular with an increase of the annealing temperature, and straight step a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:E-journal of surface science and nanotechnology 2009/12/26, Vol.7, pp.904-907
Main Authors: Chokan, Tomohito, Uetake, Tomoya, Yamada, Kazuki, Chiashi, Shohei, Homma, Yoshikazu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum oxide
Atomic force microscopy
Chemical vapor deposition
Electron microscopy
Nano-wires, quantum wires, and nanotubes
Sapphire
Surface structure, morphology, roughness, and topography
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Summary:The surface structure change of sapphire A-face (1 1 —2 0) by heating in air has been investigated from the viewpoint of its influence on the aligned growth of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The step shape was getting regular with an increase of the annealing temperature, and straight step array appeared at 1473 K. A further increase of the temperature to 1523 K resulted in altered region formation on terraces, although the atomic step shape was not changed. A terrace appeared as if it had been divided into two sub-terraces, but the height difference was less than 0.1 nm. Secondary electron images showed different contrasts in two regions, suggesting a compositional difference between them. Aligned SWCNTs were obtained regardless of the annealing temperature up to 1473 K. However, on the 1523 K-annealed surface, SWCNTs grew irregularly. The altered region changed the interaction between SWCNTs and the surface. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2009.904]
ISSN:1348-0391
1348-0391
DOI:10.1380/ejssnt.2009.904