Carbon nanotube forests are arrays of roughly vertically aligned nanotubes. Under certain growth conditions, these forests can show a growth instability that gives rise to periodic ripples that are coherent over a forest-sized scale. Previously, we showed that the uniformity and synchronization of the ripples is sufficient for them to behave as diffraction gratings for visible light. Here, we identify the conditions that reproducibly promote the formation of these ripples. We investigate the formation mechanism via ex situ scanning electron microscopy and in situ optical imaging. While the rippling amplitude varies appreciably, the rippling wavelength varies very little and can be estimated from simple mechanical considerations. We provide evidence that the rippling is a consequence of cohesive interactions between nanotubes and the build up of strain, driven by a non-uniform growth rate. The origin of the non-uniform growth rate is explained.
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