The invention provides a process for production of carbon nanotubes whereby a laminate prepared by alternating lamination of a metal catalyst and a material other than the metal catalyst is cut to expose the laminated structure, and carbon nanotubes are grown on the metal catalyst at the cut surface of the laminate. The process results in high-quality carbon nanotubes, with minimized bundle growth, which are each individually and independently arranged in a highly precise manner at prescribed locations.The invention also provides a carbon nanotube production process comprising a step of preparing a substrate which is inclined in one or two dimensions from a specific highly symmetrical crystal orientation and vapor depositing a metal catalyst along the atomic steps appearing on the surface of the substrate, and a step of growing the carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using the metal catalyst as nuclei. It is thus possible to control the growth locations, diameters, orientation and chirality of carbon nanotubes.