A Novel Reactive Gas Source and Its Application to Carbon Nanotube Film Deposition

Generally, gaseous discharge at pressure higher than 10kPa will collapse to filamentary form or streamer, which will produce a non-uniform treatment on the sample surface. Thus, atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD) is developed. However the realization of the APGD is not obvious, it needs special conditions. We propose a new concept to solve the non-uniformity problem. By using a grid electrode and putting the sample downstream of the discharge plasma, the streamers, instead of striking on sample surface, will strike on the grid, and the neutral active species produced in the discharge diffuse out to reach the sample surface uniformly. Finally, a carbon nanotube (CNT) film was produced to test this new concept.