The Discovery of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes at IBM
Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) were independently discovered in
early 1993 by scientists at IBM Almaden Research Center and at NEC in
Japan. The IBM and NEC groups each found that transition metals
co-vaporized with carbon catalyze the formation of SWNT with a narrow
range of diameters around 1 nm. Cobalt was used at IBM and iron at NEC.
The results of the two groups were reported in back-to-back papers in
the June 17, 1993 issue of the technical journal Nature. A web version of our paper is available here.
Our work grew out of experiments on metallofullerenes -- fullerenes
with metal atoms or clusters trapped inside. A brief account of this
early work on single-wall nanotubes was presented at the Tsukuba
Symposium on Carbon Nanotube in October 2001, and is summarized in the
proceedings paper "Carbon and metals: A path to single-wall carbon nanotubes," which was published in Physica B: Physics of Condensed Matter323 (1-4), 90-96 (2002).
For the discovery and development
of single-wall carbon nanotubes, which can behave like metals or
semiconductors, can conduct electricity better than copper, can
transmit heat better than diamond, and rank among the strongest
materials known.
In July 2004, the American Carbon Society awarded the American Carbon Society Medal
jointly to Dr. Donald Bethune of IBM, Professor Morinobu Endo, Shinshu
University, Japan, and Professor Sumio Iijima, Director, Research
Center for Advanced Carbon Materials, Meijo University & NEC
Special Research Fellow, Japan, for their work on carbon nanotubes. The
citation reads:
For outstanding contributions to the discovery of and early synthesis work on carbon nanotubes
U.S. Patent #5,424,054
for "Carbon Fibers and Method for their Production," was issued to IBM
on June 13, 1995. Co-inventors are: Donald S. Bethune, Robert B. Beyers
and Ching-Hwa Kiang. Information on licensing can be obtained from:
