CVD growth of secondary carbon nanotubes and its effect on field electron emission

Secondary carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown on primary ones by simply changing the methane concentration. No additional catalyst was used throughout the whole deposition process. The CNT growth was carried out using hot filament chemical vapor deposition in a gas mixture of methane and hydrogen. The structure and surface morphology of the deposited CNTs were studied and the field emission properties of the CNTs were tested. It was found that synthesizing primary CNTs at extremely low methane concentration is the key for the secondary growth without additional catalyst. The CNT samples grown with secondary nanotubes exhibited improved field emission properties.