Guo et al. (1995) were the first to report the use of a laser to ablate a block of graphite mixed with catalytic metal. The catalytic metal can consist of elements such as Co, Nb, Pt, Ni, Cu, or a binary combination thereof. The composite block is formed by making a paste of graphite powder, carbon cement, and the metal. The paste is next placed in a cylindrical mold and baked for several hours. After solidification, the graphite block is placed inside an oven with a laser pointed at it, and Ar gas is pumped along the direction of the laser point. The oven temperature is approximately 1200° C. As the laser ablates the target, carbon nanotubes form and are carried by the gas flow onto a cool copper collector. Like carbon nanotubes formed using the electric-arc discharge technique, carbon nanotube fibers are deposited in a haphazard and tangled fashion. Laser (US Air Force) A laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is a device which uses a quantum mechanical effect, stimulated emission, to generate a coherent beam of light from a lasing medium of controlled purity, size, and shape. ... Graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. ... CO can stand for: Carbon monoxide (chemical symbol) Central office (telecommunications and telephony) Colombia (ISO 3166-1 digram and NATO country code) Colorado (U.S. postal symbol) Commanding officer (military) Conscientious objector (military) Continental Airlines (IATA airline code) Co can stand for: Co is an UIC classification of railroad locomotive... The letters NB can stand for Nb – the symbol for the chemical element Niobium Norwegian Bokmål language (ISO 639 alpha-2, nb) NB – the Canadian province of New Brunswick (Canada Post provincial abbreviation) NB, n. ... Pt or pt is: The symbol of Platinum The Workers Party in Brazil Portuguese language (ISO 639 alpha-2, pt) The abbreviation of the point unit of measure used in typography This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... Ni or NI may be: A region of the United Kingdom, see Northern Ireland. ... CU can refer to several things: the TLD of Cuba the NYSE ticker symbol for Cervecerias Unidas, SA see you (Internet slang) christian union credit union Cameron University (US) [1] Cardiff University (UK) [2] Carleton University (Canada) [3] Chulalongkorn University (Thailand) [4] (English version) Columbia University (US) [5] Cornell University... Ar or ar can mean: Arabic language (ISO 639 alpha-2, ar) the letter R the chemical symbol for argon analytical reagent ar is a Unix archive format and handling tool AR is a multigaming clan , but is mainly centeralized around the Half-life 2 source engine. ... An electronic device known as a diode can be formed by joining two nanoscale carbon tubes with different electronic properties. ...

Sources

Guo, T., et al., Chemical Physics Letters 243:49 (1995).