Room-temperature growth of a carbon nanofiber on the tip of conical carbon protrusions

Abstract

Glassy carbon was Ar+-ion bombarded with a simultaneous Mo supply under ultrahigh vacuum conditions using a microprotrusion fabrication system that consists of a differentially pumped ion gun and a seed-material supply source. Conical protrusions were formed by sputtering with a seed supply, and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) grew on the tips even at room temperature. The length of CNFs reached up to ∼10 μm, and their diameter was almost uniform (50 nm) in the growth direction. The short CNFs aligned in the ion beam direction, whereas the long ones were non-aligned. The CNF growth on a glassy carbon surface was ascribed to the enhanced surface texturing and to the massive redeposition of C atoms onto cones, both of which are specific to the oblique ion bombardment: The former would lead to an increase in the number of possible nucleation sites for the CNF growth, and the C atoms arising from the latter process would migrate toward the conical tips, thus forming CNFs.

High-speed atomic force microscopy for nano-visualization of dynamic biomolecular processes

“…Batch procedures for attaching a sharp tip to each cantilever have been attempted by the direct growth of either a single carbon nanofiber (CNF) [73,74] or a carbon nanotube (CNT) [75] at the cantilever tip. Tanemura found that Ar ion beam-irradiation onto a carbon-coated cantilever produces a single CNF only at the apex of the original tip [73]. In this method, the growth orientation is easily controlled by adjusting the direction of ion-beam irradiation relative to the cantilever plane.…”

Ferromagnetic and Optical Properties of Partially Cu-Doped ZnO Films

“…The details of the system have been described elsewhere [13]. The ion gun and the arc-plasma gun are located on the same X, Z-plane, with their incidence angles at 55 • , from the normal to the surface (Fig.…”

Au Coating of Carbon Nanofiber-Tipped SPM Probes for Immobilization of Thiolated Biomolecules

“…Tanemura et al demonstrated that argon ion (Ar + ) bombardment of both bulk carbon [1] and carboncoated substrates [2] induced growth of conical protrusions, and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) grew on the cone tips without the presence of any catalysts, even at room temperature. The CNFs created by Ar + bombardment were one-dimensional and amorphous nanocarbon materials without a hollow structure, having a high aspect ratio and nanoscale tip radius of curvature [2].…”