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Hydrogenated amorphous carbon ͑a-C:H͒ nanotips have been successfully grown on Cu/Ti/Si͑100͒ by microwave plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition. A Cu etching process occurs simultaneously during the growth of the a-C:H nanotips. Both the Cu etching and a-C:H nanotips growth rates continuously increase with time. In the beginning, the Cu etching rate is approximately 3 nm/min and the upward growth rate of the a-C:H nanotips is approximately 1.2 nm/min. At the end of the growth, the Cu etching rate reaches 9 nm/min and the upward growth rate of the a-C:H nanotips reaches 5 nm/min. An etchinggrowth mechanism has been proposed to explain the formation of a-C:H nanotips on Cu/Ti/Si͑100͒. The structure of the a-C:H nanotips exhibits very good field-emission characteristics where a low turn-on field of 3.2 V/m at 10 A/cm 2 is achieved.