Patent ID: 6972056

Claim:
A method for removing residue after growth of an array of carbon nanotubes, the method comprising: providing in a chamber an array of carbon nanotubes, referred to as “CNTs,” which may have at least one residue from growth of the CNTs; providing within the chamber a selected vapor or liquid containing at least one of water vapor and H 2 O 2 at a selected pressure; exposing the selected vapor or liquid to chirped radiation having a frequency that is continuously or discretely varied between a lower frequency limit and an upper frequency limit to induce at least a portion of the selected vapor or liquid to dissociate into vapor components containing at least one of OH, OH − , H and H + ; and allowing the at least one residue to react with the selected vapor or liquid and to undergo at least one of the processes (i) at least partial dissolution of the at least one residue in the selected vapor or liquid, (ii) at least partial hydrogenation of the at least one residue through exposure to the selected vapor or liquid, and (iii) at least partial hydroxylization of the at least one residue through exposure to the selected vapor or liquid.