The advances in the use of a remote plasma in combination with a rapid radiative reactor in plasma-enhanced (PE) CVD is presented here. The characteristics and parameters of this system are fully analyzed and compared with conventional CVD growth methods. Growth of multi- and single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at low temperatures with high quality and reproducibility has been achieved in this way. Further, a new catalytic system, which gives dense multi-wall CNTs on metal substrates, is presented. The growth of both MWNTs and SWNTs by remote plasma assisted CVD in a purpose built rapid ramping reactor is presented. The reactor allows for highly reproducible growth, with uniform temperature and plasma conditions and fast sample exchange. The SWNTs grown are of a very high purity and have a repeatable distribution of small diameters. Further, growth of dense aligned MWNT forests on conducting substrates is demonstrated. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.