Plasmochemical Synthesis of Silicon–Carbon Nanotubes

The paper describes a method for the synthesis of silicon-carbon nanotubes in an argon arc. The evaporation of carbon and silicon atoms was carried out from crystalline silicon placed in the well of a graphite anode. An electric arc was ignited at the boundary between graphite and crystalline silicon. The experiment took place in argon at a pressure of 500 Torr. The deposits on the surface of the molybdenum cathode were silicon-carbon nanotubes with diameters of the order of 11–17 nm and lengths of the order of 1 μm.