Fabrication of carbon nanowalls using novel plasma processing

Carbon nanowalls, two-dimensional carbon nanostructures consisting of plane graphene layers standing on the substrate, have been grown recently. The large surface area of carbon nanowalls may provide us with various new applications. We proposed novel plasma processing, radical-controlled processing using radical injection technique, and demonstrated the successful formation of vertically aligned carbon nanowalls using fluorocarbon (radio-frequency) rf plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) assisted by H radical injection. Radical injection technique enables us to control multiple radicals individually and has great possibilities in fabricating novel nanometer-scaled functional materials. In view of the practical application of carbon nanowalls, further investigations should be performed in order to enable control over the structure and electronic properties and understand their growth mechanism.