Atomic‐Step‐Templated Formation of Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Patterns

Mind the step! Single-wall carbon nanotubes grow along the atomic steps of vicinal α-Al2O3 surfaces to give highly aligned arrays of nanometer-wide wires on a dielectric material. The nanotubes (see blue background image) reproduce the atomic features of the surface including steps, facets, and kinks (see model). The direction and morphology of the atomic steps can be controlled by the crystal miscut.