Growth characterization of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers on top of TiN buffer layer for nanoelectromechanical devices

Paper i proceeding, 2010

Initial growth of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs) from Ni catalyst seeds in the range of 40 to 100 nm as fabricated using hole-mask colloidal lithography on top of reactively sputtered TiN is studied. We observe that the initial growth conditions could cause a growth mode transition from base-type to tip-type. We attribute this transition to a change in the crystallographic orientation of the Ni catalyst seeds induced by initial growth conditions. A convenient method to deposit stoichiometric TiN films is also presented.