Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes grown by plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition offer a potentially suitable material for via interconnects in next-generation integrated circuits. Key performance-limiting factors include high contact resistance and low carbon nanotube packing density, which fall short of meeting the requirements delineated in the ITRS roadmap for interconnects. For individual carbon nanotube s, contact resistance is a major performance hurdle since it is the dominant component of carbon nanotube interconnect resistance, even in the case of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays. In this study, we correlate the carbon nanotube-metal interface nanostructure to their electrical properties in order to elucidate growth parameters that can lead to high density and low contact resistance and resistivity.