  An in situ optical absorbance measurement was used to study the growth
dynamics of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-SWCNTs)
synthesized by chemical vapor deposition of ethanol. The growth rate of the
VA-SWCNT film was found to decay exponentially from an initial maximum,
resulting in an effective growth time of approximately 15 minutes.
Investigation of various growth conditions revealed an optimum pressure at
which growth is maximized, and this pressure depends on the growth temperature.
Below this optimum pressure the synthesis reaction is first-order, and the
rate-limiting step is the arrival of ethanol at the catalyst. We also present a
novel method for determining the burning temperature of low-mass materials,
which combines the in situ absorbance measurement with controlled oxidation.
