Investigating the plasma chemistry for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes/nanofibres in an inductively coupled plasma-enhanced CVD system: the effect of processing parameters

M Mao (1) , A Bogaerts (1)

1 Dept. of Chemistry

A parameter study is carried out for an inductively coupled plasma used for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes or carbon nanofibers (CNTs/CNFs), by means of the Hybrid Plasma Equipment Model (HPEM). The influence of processing parameters including gas ratio for four different gas mixtures typically used for CNT/CNF growth (i.e., CH 4 /H 2, CH 4 /NH 3, C 2 H 2 /H 2 and C 2 H 2 /NH 3), ICP power (50~1000W), operating pressure (10mTorr~1Torr), bias power (0~1000W) and temperature of the substrate (0~1000 °C) on the plasma chemistry is investigated and the optimized conditions for CNT/CNF growth are analyzed. Summarized, our calculations suggest that a lower fraction of hydrocarbon gases (CH 4 or C 2 H 2, i.e., below 20%) and hence a higher fraction of etchant gases (H 2 or NH 3) in the gas mixture result in more " clean " conditions for controlled CNT/CNF growth. The same applies to a higher ICP power, a moderate ICP gas pressure above 100 mTorr (at least for SWCNTs), a high bias power (for aligned CNTs), and an intermediate substrate temperature.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

M Mao, A Bogaerts. Investigating the plasma chemistry for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes/nanofibres in an inductively coupled plasma-enhanced CVD system: the effect of processing parameters. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2010, 43 (31), pp.315203. ⟨10.1088/0022-3727/43/31/315203⟩. ⟨hal-00569665⟩