CATALYTIC AND DIRECTIONAL GROWTH OF INDIVIDUAL CARBON NANOTUBES, AND APPLICATION THEREOF FOR COLD ELECTRON SOURCES

摘要

The invention relates to the catalytic growth of individual carbon nanotubes which are oriented essentially perpendicularly to the substrate (14). The invention is characterised by the use of: a first chamber (11) forming a source of carbon product ions (13); and a second growth chamber (12) in which the substrate (14) is placed on a heating support (15), the aforementioned ions (13) being accelerated towards the substrate (14) by an electron-optical system (16, 17, 18) which directs same essentially perpendicularly to the surface of the substrate (14). The invention can be used to optimise the characteristics of the nanotubes in terms of height, position and direction of growth. In this way, the nanotubes thus obtained have excellent field emission characteristics and are particularly suitable for use as cold electron sources.