Patent ID: 6858197

Claim:
A method for producing at least one of a single wall nanotube, a multi-wall nanotube and a nanofiber containing primarily carbon, the method comprising: providing a substrate of a selected material in a heated chamber, a first layer of a first selected thickness of material that is produced primarily by sputtering a combination of Al and Ir onto the substrate, and a second layer of a second selected thickness of material, drawn from a second group of materials including at least one of Fe, Co and Ni, that is deposited on the first layer that is deposited on the substrate, where at least one of the first layer and the second layer is deposited with a selected non-uniform layer pattern; providing a hydrocarbon-containing (“HC-containing”) gas containing at least one of CH 4 , C 2 H 4 and C 2 H 2 , heated to a selected temperature in a mange between 400° C. and 1000° C. within the chamber, and passing the HC-containing gas over a selected portion of the coated substrate; and allowing at least one layer deposited on the substrate to remove H atoms and molecules from the HC-containing gas and to deposit C particles as part of at least one of a single wall nanotube, a multi-wall nanotube and a nanofiber on the coated substrate, in an array defined in part by the selected pattern.