Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) size shrinking through catalyst size reduction: Use of innovative nanodiamonds hard mask technique

Jean-Paul Mazellier (1) , Julien Delchevalrie (1) , Lucie Sabaut (1) , Hugues Girard (2) , Samuel Saada (2)

1 Thales Research and Technology [Palaiseau]
2 LCD (CEA, LIST) - Laboratoire Capteurs Diamant (CEA, LIST)

We demonstrate in this study the possibility to use nanodiamonds particles as hard mask to easily produce catalyst (Nickel) nanoparticles on-wafer with size in the 10-20nm range. These nanoparticles are used to grow vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) by employing a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technic. These narrow VACNTs are grown to produce cold cathodes that will help to test predicted beam divergence scaling with emitter height.

Mots clés: carbon nanotube; field emission; nanodiamond; processing; Nickel; Nanoparticles; Carbon nanotubes; Cathodes; Etching; Scanning electron microscopy; catalysts; masks; plasma CVD; vertically aligned carbon nanotubes; VACNT; catalyst size reduction; nanodiamonds hard mask technique; catalyst nanoparticles; plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition; size 10 nm to 20 nm

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Chimie de coordination; Agrégats Moléculaires et Atomiques [physics.atm-clus]

Jean-Paul Mazellier, Julien Delchevalrie, Lucie Sabaut, Hugues Girard, Samuel Saada. Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) size shrinking through catalyst size reduction: Use of innovative nanodiamonds hard mask technique. 2016 29th International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC), Jul 2016, Vancouver, Canada. pp.7551464, ⟨10.1109/IVNC.2016.7551464⟩. ⟨hal-01890089⟩