Growth of carbon micro-trees

摘要

The complex deposition and growth of graphitic carbon has come up with several surprises in recent years, including the growth of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. Here we describe the spectacular growth of micron-sized treelike carbon structures produced by chemical vapour deposition of methane without the use of any catalysts. Our results show that carbon surfaces can be tailored while they are growing simply by controlling the rate of deposition from the vapour phase.