We have achieved selective growth of high-purity carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on iron-deposited hole-patterns by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of acetylene gas. The vertically well-aligned CNTs were uniformly synthesized with good selectivity on hole-patterned silicon substrates. The CNTs indicated multiwalled and bamboo-like structure. The turn-on gate voltage at the CNT-based triode structure was about 55 V and emission current density was 2.0 muA at the applied gate voltage of 100 V. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.