Correlating electrical resistance to growth conditions for multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

A correlation between growth temperature and electrical resistance of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) has been established by measuring the resistance of individual MWNTs grown by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at 800, 900, and 950 °C. The lowest resistances were obtained mainly from MWNTs grown at 900 °C. The MWNT resistance is larger on average at lower (800 °C) and higher (950 °C) growth temperatures. The resistance of MWNTs correlated well with other MWNT quality indices obtained from Raman spectra. This study identifies a temperature window for growing higher-quality MWNTs with fewer defects and lower resistance by PECVD. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.