It has been found that it is possible to activate the process of obtaining carbon nanotubes by vapor deposition due to the generation in the reaction zone of nonequilibrium plasma by the method of pulsed barrier discharge. It has been shown that depending on the catalytic substrate used (nickel wire, stainless steel, porous aluminum oxide with nickel deposited) in the pores, under the conditions of pulsed discharge both individual carbon nanotubes (straight or helical) and their ordered arrays can be obtained.