Micropatterned vertically aligned carbon-nanotube growth on a Si surface or inside trenches

The good field-emission properties of carbon nanotubes coupled with their high mechanical strength, chemical stability, and high aspect ratio, make them ideal candidates for the construction of efficient and inexpensive field-emission electronic devices. The fabrication process reported here has considerable potential for use in the development of integrated radio-frequency amplifiers or field-emission-controllable cold-electron guns for field-emission displays. This fabrication process is compatible with currently used semiconductor-processing technologies. Micropatterned vertically aligned carbon nanotubes were grown on a planar Si surface or inside trenches, using chemical vapor deposition, photolithography, pulsed-laser deposition, reactive ion etching, and the lift-off method. This carbon-nanotube fabrication process can be widely applied for the development of electronic devices using carbon-nanotube field emitters as cold cathodes and could revolutionize the area of field-emitting electronic devices. Received: 30 August 2001 / Accepted: 3 September 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001