Direct growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes on substrates

As one of the most promising candidate material for next generation electronic devices, the reliable and controllable synthesis of high quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has long been an essential and important issue in the field. Direct growth of SWNTs on flat substrates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process is the best way to obtain SWNTs because it is immediately ready for building nano-devices. The orientation of the SWNTs has been well controlled by gas flow or substrate lattice during the CVD growth process. The chirality and structure control of SWNTs is still a big challenge. However, the conductivity selective growth has already partially succeeded. New catalysts have been explored to obtain SWNTs of higher quality. Along with the further progress in the study of the SWNT growth, the precise control over the orientation, position and conductivity of SWNTs is expected to meet the requirements of carbon-based nanoelectronics.