Single-walled carbon nanotubes produced by laser ablation under different inert atmospheres

In this work, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been produced und er atmospheres of argon, nitrogen, mixture of argon/nitrogen, and helium us ing a continuous wave mode CO2 laser. High amount of SWNT material was achi eved when argon and nitrogen and its mixture were employed as buffer gases, both under static and dynamic conditions, as it was observed by electron m icroscopy. In contrast to the are-discharge method, very low yields were ob tained working under helium atmospheres.