METHOD OF GROWTH OF BRANCHED CARBON NANOTUBES AND DEVICES PRODUCED FROM THE BRANCHED NANOTUBES

A method of producing Y-junction carbon nanotubes. An alumina template with branched growth channels is produced after which individual Y-junction carbon nanotubes are grown directly by pyrolysis of acetylene using cobalt catalysis. The use of a branched growth channel allows the natural simultaneous formation of a very large number of individual but well-aligned three-port Y-junction carbon nanotubes with excellent uniformity and control over the length (up to several tens .mu.m) and diameter (15-100 nm) of the "stem" and "branches" separately. These Y-junctions offer the nanoelectronics community a new base material for molecular scale electronic devices including for example transistors and rectifiers.