Growth of single-walled carbon nanotube arrays from samarium on substrates

In this letter, it is reported for the first time that samarium is an effective catalyst for single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWNTs) growth via a chemical vapor deposition(CVD) process. Horizontally superlong well-oriented SWNT arrays can be generated under suitable conditions by using ethanol as carbon source. The single-wall structure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results show that the SWNTs from samarium have better conductivity and better structural uniformity with less defects. This rare earth metal element provides not only an alternative catalyst for SWNTs growth but also a possible way to generate high percentage of superlong semiconducting SWNT arrays for various applications of nanoelectronic device.