Growth and electrical characterization of high-aspect-ratio carbon nanotube arrays

Abstract The remarkable properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) make them attractive for microelectronic applications, especially for interconnects and nanoscale devices. In this paper, we describe a microelectronics compatible process for growing high-aspect-ratio CNT arrays with application to vertical electrical interconnects. A lift-off process was used to pattern catalyst (Al2O3/Fe) islands to diameters of 13 or 20 μm. After patterning, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was involved to deposit highly aligned CNT arrays using ethylene as the carbon source, and argon and hydrogen as carrier gases. The as-grow CNTs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results demonstrated that the CNTs have high purity, and form densely-aligned arrays with controllable array size and height. Two-probe electrical measurements of the CNT arrays indicate a resistivity of ∼0.01 Ω cm, suggesting possible use of these CNTs as interconnect materials.