Patent ID: 7115306

Claim:
A method of growing carbon nanotubes, comprising: providing a substrate with a top surface; depositing an aluminum layer with a top surface, a bottom surface and side surfaces on the top surface of the substrate; forming an insulating layer on the top surface of the aluminum layer; patterning the insulating layer and the aluminum layer on the substrate so as to expose a side surface of the aluminum layer and a portion of the top surface of the substrate; forming a plurality of holes in the exposed side surface of the aluminum layer to a predetermined depth into the exposed side surface, wherein the plurality of holes have cross-sectional areas, and have lengths from bottoms of the holes at the deepest sideways portions of the holes to the exposed side surfaces of the aluminum layer; depositing a catalyst metal layer on the bottoms of the holes; and growing the carbon nanotubes from the catalyst metal layer from the bottoms of the holes out of the exposed side surfaces of the aluminum layer.