Controllable patterning and CVD growth of isolated carbon nanotubes with direct parallel writing of catalyst using Dip Pen Nanolithography

TL;DR

This paper introduces a precise, scalable method for fabricating isolated carbon nanotubes by patterning catalyst nanoparticles with Dip Pen Nanolithography, enabling controlled growth via chemical vapor deposition.

Contribution

The study presents a novel multi-pen DPN technique with new molecular inks for high-yield, precise placement of catalyst nanoparticles for CNT growth.

Findings

High-yield isolated CNT growth achieved

Precise catalyst patterning demonstrated

Scalable array geometries produced

Abstract

We report a process to fabricate carbon nanotubes (CNT) by chemical vapor deposition at predetermined location. This process was enabled by patterning catalyst nanoparticles directly on silicon substrates with nanometer-scale precision using Dip Pen Nanolithography(R) (DPN(R)). A multi-pen writing method was employed to increase the patterning rate. The development of new molecular inks for the deposition of the precursor catalyst resulted in a high yield of isolated carbon nanotubes, ideal for subsequent device fabrication. Here, we demonstrate the advantages of the new method for producing high quality isolated CNT in scalable array geometries.