Solid state growth mechanisms for carbon nanotubes

The mechanisms by which carbon nanotubes nucleate and grow remain poorly understood. This paper reviews the models which have been proposed to explain nanotube growth in the arc-evaporation and laser-vaporisation processes. Many of the early models assumed that growth is a gas phase phenomenon but there is growing experimental evidence that the formation of both multiwalled and single-walled tubes involves a solid state transformation. Heating rate also seems to be important in promoting nanotube growth.