research aims to develop a thin film coating process to act as an electrode and also a
catalyst for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes to fabricate a device that convert heat to electricity,
called thermoelectric generators, in the future. A dc magnetron sputtering system to coat thin film
layers was developed in this research. To test the performance of this system by sputtering copper
under vacuum at 235 Pa using voltage of -400 V with controlled current at 300 mA for 6 minutes
sputtering time, resulted a thin film with thickness of 250 nm on silicon substrate that examined
in the cross-sectional view by scanning electron microscope. For the synthesis of carbon
nanotubes, the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system was developed. Prior to growth the
carbon nanotubes on silicon, three different thin-film catalysts that have a function to accelerate
chemical reaction; copper, iron and nickel, were coated on silicon. Films were coated under the
same coating conditions; coating time 2 minutes, vacuum pressure 235 Pa, bias voltage -400 V
and current 300 mA. The synthesis of carbon nanotubes was performed in chemical vapor
deposition system under vacuum at 1,600 Pa by using ethanol as a carbon source with processing
time 10 minutes at controlled temperature at 800?C. The synthesized carbon nanotubes are the
multi-layer wall with a diameter of about 100-200 nm. Nickel is a catalytic metal that provides
the most density of nanotubes and vertically tube structure. To investigate the chemical bonding
of atoms that assembly forming a nanotube with Raman spectroscopy.