Very thin single-walled carbon nanotubes self-assembled on 6H-SiC(0001) substrate by surface decomposition method

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been synthesized by a surface decomposition method on 6H-SiC(0001) substrate with in-situ introduction of molecular hydrogen into a vacuum chamber. It has been found that very thin singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with a diameter around I nm are formed, which was proved to be caused by addition of molecular hydrogen by comparing the experimental results with and without introduction of molecular hydrogen. The result indicate the modified surface decomposition method by addition of molecular hydrogen may serve as an efficient way by which very thin SWNTs can be synthesized.