Vertically aligned carbon nitride nanocone (CNNC) arrays were prepared on Ni-covered (100) silicon wafers by an abnormal glow discharge plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition method. In order to control the growth of the CNNC arrays, the distance of the anode tip to the substrate surface was adjusted for it affected the contents and activities of the species in the plasmas leading to the CNNC growth. Based on the characterization of the as-grown thin films and the analysis of the growth environments, the effects of the experimental conditions on the growth of the CNNC arrays were studied and their growth mechanism was discussed. The tip-substrate distance strongly affects the CNNC growth. Under appropriate experimental conditions, the vertically-aligned and intact CNNC arrays with the beta-C3N4 microstructure and the minimum tip curvature diameter of only 3-4 nm could be fabricated. This kind of CNNC arrays have many potential applications, such as tips for microscopes, electron-emitting units in field emission displays, electron-capture electrodes of solar cells etc. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.