A method for making a branched carbon nanotube structure includes steps, as follows: providing a substrate and forming a buffer layer on a surface of the substrate; depositing a catalyst layer on the surface of the buffer layer; putting the substrate into a reactive device; and forming the branched carbon nanotubes on the surface of the buffer layer and along the surface of the buffer layer by a chemical vapor deposition method. The material of the catalyst layer is non-wetting with the material of the buffer layer at a temperature that the branched carbon nanotube are formed. A yield of the branched carbon nanotubes in the structure can reach about 50%.