Scaling parallel dielectrophoresis of carbon nanotubes: an enabling geometry

Nanotechnology. 2012 May 11;23(18):185308. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/23/18/185308. Epub 2012 Apr 19.

Abstract

Dielectrophoresis has been used as a technique for the parallel localization and alignment of both semiconducting and metallic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at junctions between electrodes. A variation of this technique known as floating potential dielectrophoresis (FPD) allows for a self-limiting number of CNTs to be localized at each junction, on a massively parallel scale. However, the smallest FPD geometries to date are restricted to conductive substrates and have a lower limit on floating electrode size. We present a geometry which eliminates this lower limit and enables FPD to be performed on non-conducting substrates. We also discuss experiments clarifying the self-limiting mechanism of CNT localization and how it can be used advantageously as devices are scaled downwards to smaller sizes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.