Fabrication of nanotube bundles and reactors for the same

A method for forming a pellicle for an extreme ultraviolet lithography mask, comprising:

• forming a pellicle membrane over a filter membrane, wherein forming the pellicle membrane comprises:
• growing individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from in-situ formed metal catalyst particles in a first reaction zone of a reactor, the reactor including an axial centerline, each of the grown individual CNTs including a metal catalyst particle at a growing tip of the grown individual CNTs;
• flowing the grown individual CNTs in a direction substantially parallel to the axial centerline of the reactor;
• in a second zone of the reactor below the first reaction zone, altering a direction of the flow of the grown individual CNTs by exposing the grown individual CNTs to an electric or magnetic field;
• combining the grown individual CNTs into CNT bundles;
• and
• collecting the CNT bundles on the filter membrane;
• and
• transferring the pellicle membrane from the filter membrane to a membrane border.

A method for forming a pellicle for an extreme ultraviolet lithography mask, comprising:

• forming a plurality of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a first reaction zone of a reactor;
• flowing the plurality of CNTs from the first reaction zone to a second reaction zone of the reactor located downstream of the first reaction zone along a first direction;
• flowing the plurality of CNTs through the second reaction zone along a second direction different from the first direction to exit the reactor, wherein, in the second reaction zone, the plurality of CNTs are initially separate and are caused to come together and bundle in response to the change in flow direction to form a plurality of CNT bundles;
• and
• collecting the plurality of CNT bundles on a substrate to form a pellicle membrane.