Single-walled carbon nanotubes produced by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are produced for the first time using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. In this method, not only SWNTs in the form of thin bundles but also individually grown SWNTs are produced at a quite low-synthesis temperature (550 °C). According to analyses by field emission gun transmission electron microscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy, it is conjectured that some SWNTs individually grown have a certain diameter which is closely related to the pore size of zeolite. These results indicate that our method could be a landmark for the individual growth of diameter and chirality-controlled SWNT.