Low-Temperature Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Growth from Pt Catalyst Using Alcohol Gas Source Method in High Vacuum

The growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) was carried out on SiO 2 /Si substrates with Pt catalysts at 400, 450, and 700 °C using an alcohol gas source method in a high vacuum, and the grown SWCNTs were characterized by Raman spectroscopy. By optimizing the ethanol pressure, we could grow SWCNTs even at 400 and 450 °C. By reducing the growth temperature, both the diameter and diameter distribution of the SWCNTs were markedly decreased, and the diameters for most of the SNWTs grown at 400 °C were estimated to be below 1 nm from the Raman results. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation showed that the reduction in SWCNT diameter was caused by the decrease in catalyst size with decreasing temperature.