Intrinsic thermal vibrations of suspended doubly clamped single-wall carbon nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation and analysis of thermally driven mechanical vibrations in suspended doubly clamped single-wall carbon nanotubes, using electron microscopy and continuum mechanics modeling.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of thermal vibrations in CVD-grown nanotubes and compares observed amplitudes with theoretical models.

Findings

Thermally driven vibrations are observable via SEM imaging.

Vibration amplitudes match predictions from continuum mechanics.

Suspended nanotubes exhibit measurable thermal motion.

Abstract

We report the observation of thermally driven mechanical vibrations of suspended doubly clamped carbon nanotubes, grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Several experimental procedures are used to suspend carbon nanotubes. The vibration is observed as a blurring in images taken with a scanning electron microscope. The measured vibration amplitudes are compared with a model based on linear continuum mechanics.