Electro-Optical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes Obtained by High Density Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

In this work, we studied the electro-optical properties of high-aligned carbon nanotubes deposited at room temperature. For this, we used the High Density Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition system. This system uses a new concept of plasma generation: a planar coil is coupled to an RF system for plasma generation. This was used together with an electrostatic shield, for plasma densification, thereby obtaining high-density plasmas. The carbon nanotubes were deposited using pure methane plasmas. Three methods were used for the surface modification of the sample: reference substrate (silicon wafer only submitted to a chemical cleaning), silicon wafer with surface roughness generated by plasma etching, silicon wafer with a thin iron film and silicon wafer with diamond nano powder used as precursor materials. For each kind of silicon wafer surface, the carbon nanotubes were deposited with two different deposition times (two and three hours). The carbon nanotubes structural characteristics were analyzed by Atomic Force Microscope and Scanning Electronic Microscope. The carbon nanotubes electrical characteristics were observed by Raman Spectroscopy and the carbon nanotubes electro-optical properties were analyzed by current vs voltage electrical measurements and photo-luminescence spectroscopy measurements. The photoelectric effect in the carbon nanotubes were determined by photo-induced current measurements. In this work, we obtained carbon nanotubes with semiconductor properties and carbon nanotubes with metallic properties. The electro-optical effects depend strongly on the substrate preparation and the deposition parameters of the carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotubes are high aligned and show singular properties that can be used for many applications.