Low Temperature Growth of Carbon Nanostructures by Radio Frequency-Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (Low Temperature Growth of Carbon Nanostructures by RF-PECVD)

This paper reports the growth of carbon nanostructures on Si (100) substrate in the absence of catalyst using radio-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD). A variety of carbon nanostructures have been grown by low pressure high density plasma process at 400 degrees C using a methane/argon mixture. Various shapes and structures including novel carbon nanoparticles have been found. The surface morphology was studied by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) while the chemical composition was studied using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The AFM images show that the nanostructures are predominantly either particulate (spherical) in nature or have a sheet-like morphology. SEM images are in good correspondence to the AFM results and indicate formation of either individual islands or two-dimensional nanosheet-like structures. The crux of this work is in the synthesis of the carbon nanostructures at comparatively low fabrication temperature (400 degrees C) as compared to other techniques.