Electron Diffraction Analysis of the Structure of Carbon Nanopillars along the Growth Direction

Abstract

The structure of carbon nanopillars grown without catalysis by low-temperature plasmaenhanced-chemical-vapor deposition on a silicon substrate is investigated using the suggested focused ion beam technique for preparing a sample composed of several thin plan-view foils. Studying the prepared sample by electron diffraction and bright-field transmission electron microscopy allows determination of the variation of the two-dimensionally ordered crystallite fraction along the growth direction. It us established that the crystalline phase fraction inside the nanopillars gradually decreases during the growth process. Nearly 90% of the crystalline material is located between the base and the middle of the nanopillars while their upper parts almost entirely consist of amorphous carbon.