Carbon Nanotube Forest Growth: Catalyst-Controlled Self-Termination

Vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) "forests" are grown by seeding a substrate with a dense pattern of metal catalyst nanoparticles and feeding them a carbon-bearing gas inside a CVD reactor. Each particle nucleates and rides atop its own tube (tip growth), decomposing carbon and adding it to the wall — until subsurface carbon diffusion and Ostwald-ripening-driven sintering deactivate the catalyst and growth stops. This simulator renders a real instanced 3D forest whose height follows the saturating-exponential kinetics that describe this self-termination, driven by three real CVD recipe parameters: catalyst nanoparticle diameter, carbon feedstock flow, and growth temperature. Live readouts track forest height, instantaneous growth rate, remaining catalyst activity and elapsed process time as the run plays out.