Raman spectral measuring of the growth rate of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We report, herein, a rational approach to measure the growth rate of individual SWNTs. Intramolecular junctions could be produced controllably by temperature-mediated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and used as a Raman-identifiable mark to confirm the starting and finishing position of a SWNT. Thus, the growth rate of SWNTs could be calculated by v = L CNT/t, where v is the growth rate, L is the length of the segment, and t is its growth time. The results show that the growth rates of SWNTs growing at 950°C are higher than those at 900°C, and the growth rate at 950 or 900°C decreases with the passage of time. We believe this approach provides an easy way to measure the growth rate of an individual SWNT and that it is a good starting point to study the growth behavior of SWNTs and for constructing SWNT-based device. © 2007 American Chemical Society.