Patent ID: 7288490

Claim:
A method of fabricating an array of carbon nanotubes (“CNTs”) that are oriented in substantially the same direction, the method comprising: providing a substrate of a selected material having a first substrate surface in a heated chamber, a first layer of a first selected thickness of material including at least one of a first group of materials consisting of Al and Ir, deposited on the first substrate surface, 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, Ni and Mo, deposited on the first layer, to form a coated substrate surface; connecting a single electrode having a selected voltage that lies in a range of about 0.1-100 Volts to at least one of the first substrate surface and a second substrate surface, where no additional electrode is located adjacent to the single electrode, and where an electrical field outside and adjacent to the first substrate surface and the second substrate surface has approximately zero field intensity; 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 range between 400° C. and 1000° C. within the chamber, and passing the HC-containing gas over a selected portion of the coated substrate surface; and allowing at least one layer deposited on the coated substrate surface to remove H atoms and molecules from the HC-containing gas and to deposit carbon particles as part of an array of structures, including at least one of a single wall CNT, a multi-wall CNT and a carbon-based nanofiber (“CNF”), on the coated substrate surface, whereby the structures are oriented in substantially the same direction, approximately perpendicular to the first substrate surface.