Simulation of Carbon Nanotube Welding through Ar bombardment

TL;DR

This study investigates how argon ion bombardment can be used to create electrical connections between crossed single-walled carbon nanotubes, identifying optimal conditions for effective and minimally damaging welding.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the effects of Ar bombardment parameters on nanotube junction quality, offering guidance for experimental nanoscale welding methods.

Findings

Optimal conditions involve 100 eV impact energy, low flux, and 3000 K annealing.

High junction quality is maintained across a broad fluence range.

Ar bombardment can effectively create conductive connections with minimal damage.

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes show promise as nanoscale transistors, for nanocomputing applications. This use will require appropriate methods for creating electrical connections between distinct nanotubes, analogous to welding of metallic wires at larger length scales, but methods for performing nanoscale chemical welding are not yet sufficiently understood. This study examined the effect of Ar bombardment on the junction of two crossed single-walled carbon nanotubes, to understand the value and limitations of this method for generating connections between nanotubes. A geometric criterion was used to assess the quality of the junctions formed, with the goal of identifying the most productive conditions for experimental ion bombardment. In particular, the effects of nanotube chirality, Ar impact kinetic energy, impact particle flux and fluence, and annealing temperature were considered. The most productive bombardment conditions, leading to the most crosslinking of the tubes with the smallest loss of graphitic (i.e. conductive) character, were found to be at relatively mild impact energies (100 eV), with low flux and high temperature (3000 K) annealing. Particularly noteworthy for experimental application, a high junction quality is maintained for a relatively broad range of fluences, from 3E19 m^-2 to at least 1.0E20 m^-2.