Vertical Alignment of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Nanostructure Fabricated by Atomic Force Microscope

Our work has been concentrated on both chemical attachments of functionalized carbon nanotubes CNTs and their alignments through chemical, electrical and optical manipulation on templates such as Si-wafer and gold, on which nanostructures can be formed by novellithographic techniques of atomic force microscope AFM anodic oxidation lithography or nanosphere lithography. As-grown CNTs were modified with functional groups like carboxylic acid, acid chloride and alkyl thiol groups to chemically bond CNTs to templates. The chemical bonding of functionalized CNTs on conducting templates was also performed by applying a direct current DC field to CNT suspension, resulting in the formation of uniform CNT films. Ultrasonic treatment allowed the electrodeposited CNTs to be aligned normal to the electrodes. In addition, the selective attachment of CNTs on templates was conducted by applying the lithographic techniques. A promising approach to manipulating CNTs was demonstrated using a linear polarized infrared optical trapping system. Various analytical methods such as AFM, TEM, SEM, Raman, FT-IR, and field emission measurement enabled the characterization of the CNTs.