Ut-Battelle, Inc.

Gyula Eres

Elias Stanley Greenbaum

James Weifu Lee

Douglas H Lowndes

Vladimir I Merkulov

Ida Lee

Yayi Wei

A method of growing a carbon nanotube includes the step of impinging a beam of carbon-containing molecules onto a substrate to grow at least one carbon nanotube on the catalyst surface.

Molecular jet growth of carbon nanotubes and dense vertically aligned nanotube arrays

A method is described for catalyst-induced growth of carbon nanotubes, nanofibers, and other nanostructures on the tips of nanowires, cantilevers, conductive micro/nanometer structures, wafers and the like. The method can be used for production of carbon nanotube-anchored cantilevers that can significantly improve the performance of scaning probe microscopy (AFM, EFM etc). The invention can also be used in many other processes of micro and/or nanofabrication with carbon nanotubes/fibers. Key elements of this invention include: (1) Proper selection of a metal catalyst and programmable pulsed electrolytic deposition of the desired specific catalyst precisely at the tip of a substrate, (2) Catalyst-induced growth of carbon nanotubes/fibers at the catalyst-deposited tips, (3) Control of carbon nanotube/fiber growth pattern by manipulation of tip shape and growth conditions, and (4) Automation for mass production.

Catalyst-induced growth of carbon nanotubes on tips of cantilevers and nanowires

Growing community of inventors

Knoxville, TN, United States of America

Gyula Eres