Aligned carbon nanotubes were grown by plasma-enhanced hot filament chemical vapor deposition using different reaction gases and they were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the hollow carbon nanotubes were formed using methane and hydrogen as the reaction gases, but the bamboo-structured carbon nanotubes were grown when ammonia was added into the reaction gases, indicating that the structure of the aligned carbon nanotubes was changed depending on different reaction gases. On setting of diffusion of carbon, the effects of the nitrogenous gas on the structure change of carbon nanotubes are studied. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.