Reactor design considerations in the hot filament/direct current plasma synthesis of carbon nanofibers

Abstract

A combined hot filament/direct current (dc) plasma approach to chemical vapor deposition of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using an acetylene/ammonia feedstock has been explored. As a part of the study, the impact of filament usage and substrate holder design has been examined by scanning electron microscopy imaging of deposition products and monitoring of downstream products by residual gas analysis (RGA). It is demonstrated that the filament wire is important primarily in the pretreatment of the substrate, improving CNF growth quality. However, the filament has a more minor impact when combined with the dc plasma, increasing growth rate but reducing growth quality. The substrate holder is modified by introducing a graphite spacer into the electrode. By varying the size of the spacer, the effective surface area of the cathode is modified, allowing control over the power input to the reactor while holding the voltage constant. This allows for some independent control of physicochemical processes that are typically inseparable in plasma processing, including gas phase chemistry, substrate heating and etching by ion bombardment, and growth alignment effects due to the electric field. This work demonstrates how separating these processes allows for better control over the desired growth product.