Int. J. Nanomanufacturing, Vol. X, No. Y, XXXX 1
Copyright © XXXX Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
2D and 3D growth of carbon nanotubes on
substrates, from nanometre to millimetre scales
A. John Hart*
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Michigan.
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
E-mail: ajohnh@umich.edu
*Corresponding author
Hayden K. Taylor
Department of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA, USA
E-mail: hkt@mit.edu
Alexander H. Slocum
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA, USA
E-mail: slocum@mit.edu
Abstract: This paper presents a suite of techniques for making Carbon
Nanotube (CNT) assemblies having hierarchical two- and three-dimensional
organisation: conformal films of tangled single-walled CNTs are grown on
silicon microstructures, millimetre-thick films and microstructures of aligned
Multi-wall CNTs (MWNTs) are grown on flat silicon substrates, large-area
CNT micropatterns are fabricated by post-growth dry embossing of aligned
CNT films and 3D forms of CNTs are directly grown to take the shape of
microfabricated template. These growth processes use catalyst thin-films
deposited by electron beam evaporation and atmospheric-pressure thermal
Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), which is scalable from academic-level
prototyping to industrial-level manufacturing.
Keywords: Carbon Nanotubes; CNTs; nanostructures; growth; Chemical
Vapour Deposition; CVD; embossing; microfabrication; patterning;
microstructures; moulding.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Hart, A.J., Taylor, H.K.
and Slocum, A.H. (XXXX) ‘2D and 3D growth of carbon nanotubes on
substrates, from nanometre to millimetre scales’, Int. J. Nanomanufacturing,
Vol. X, No. Y, pp.XXX–XXX.
Biographical notes: A. John Hart is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical
Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He received his PhD in 2006 and SM in 2002 from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology and a BSE in 2000 from the University of Michigan, all in