Carbon nanotubes overgrown and ingrown with nanocrystalline diamond deposited by different CVD plasma systems

Author(s)

M. Varga, V. Vretenar, T. Izak, V. Skakalova, A. Kromka

Abstract

In this work we investigate the growth of diamond film on a porous

single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) paper by employing three different

Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) systems: plasma-assisted hot filament,

focused microwave plasma and linear antenna microwave plasma. We observe

that the diamond growth is strongly affected by the different

conditions in each of the CVD processes resulting in different

SWNT/diamond composite structures. It is also found that only the linear

antenna microwave plasma CVD process allows penetration of the

activated growth species into the volume of the SWNT paper, whereas

using the other methods, the diamond grains are formed on the SWNT paper

surface only. Moreover, the growth of diamond structures within the

substrate volume is strongly influenced by the CH₄/CO₂/H₂

gas content ratio. A key factor influencing the formation of a compact

SWNT/diamond composite is keeping the equilibrium between two

competitive processes: establishing conditions where the diamond

structure can grow while etching/damage of the SWNT paper is still kept

at a minimum. The morphology and chemical composition of formed

composite materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy

and Raman spectroscopy.

Organisation(s)

Physics of Nanostructured Materials

External organisation(s)

Czech Academy of Sciences, Danubia NanoTech Sro, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava

Journal

Physica Status Solidi. B: Basic Research

Volume

251

Pages

2413-2419

No. of pages

ISSN

0370-1972

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/pssb.201451176

Publication date

12-2014

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103018 Materials physics

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Condensed Matter Physics

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