A scalable approach to obtaining high-density, large-area single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) arrays is essential for realizing the full potential of SWNTs in practical electronic devices; this is still a great challenge. Here, we report an improved synthetic method for large-area growth of ultra-high-density SWNT arrays on sapphire surfaces by combining Trojan catalysts (released from the substrate, to assure ultra-high density) with Mo nanoparticles (loaded on the surface, to stabilize the released Trojan catalysts) as cooperating catalysts. Dense and perfectly aligned SWNTs covered the entire substrate and the local density was as high as 160 tubes/μm. Field-effect transistors (FETs) built on such arrays gave an output current density of −488 μA/μm at the drain-source voltage (V _ds) = the gate-source voltage (V _gs) =–2 V, corresponding to an on-conductance per width of 244 μS/μm. These results confirm the wide range of potential applications of Trojan-Mo catalysts in the structure-controlled growth of SWNTs.

中文翻译：

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蓝宝石表面上大面积生长的超高密度单壁碳纳米管阵列

获得高密度，大面积单壁碳纳米管（SWNT）阵列的可扩展方法对于在实际电子设备中实现SWNT的全部潜力至关重要。这仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在这里，我们报告了一种改进的合成方法，该方法通过将Trojan催化剂（从基质释放，以确保超高密度）与Mo纳米颗粒（负载在表面上）结合起来，在蓝宝石表面上大面积生长超高密度SWNT阵列，以稳定释放的特洛伊木马催化剂）作为助催化剂。密集且完美对齐的单壁碳纳米管覆盖了整个基板，局部密度高达160管/μm。建立在这种阵列上的场效应晶体管（FET）在漏源电压（V _ds）=栅源电压（V _gs）= –2 V，对应于每单位宽度244μS/μm的导通电导。这些结果证实了Trojan-Mo催化剂在SWNTs的结构控制生长中的广泛潜在应用。