Ultra-large-scale directed assembly of single-walled carbon nanotube devices
TL;DR: It is shown that the dielectrophoretic force fields change incisively as nanotubes assemble into the contact areas, leading to a reproducible directed assembly which is self-limiting in forming single-tube devices.
Abstract: One of the biggest limitations of conventional carbon nanotube device fabrication techniques is the inability to scale up the processes to fabricate a large number of devices on a single chip. In this report, we demonstrate the directed and precise assembly of single-nanotube devices with an integration density of several million devices per square centimeter, using a novel aspect of nanotube dielectrophoresis. We show that the dielectrophoretic force fields change incisively as nanotubes assemble into the contact areas, leading to a reproducible directed assembly which is self-limiting in forming single-tube devices. Their functionality has been tested by random sampling of device characteristics using microprobes.
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TL;DR: An extensive review of carbon nanomaterials in electronic, optoelectronic, photovoltaic, and sensing devices with a particular focus on the latest examples based on the highest purity samples is presented.
Abstract: In the last three decades, zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, and two-dimensional carbon nanomaterials (i.e., fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, respectively) have attracted significant attention from the scientific community due to their unique electronic, optical, thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties. While early work showed that these properties could enable high performance in selected applications, issues surrounding structural inhomogeneity and imprecise assembly have impeded robust and reliable implementation of carbon nanomaterials in widespread technologies. However, with recent advances in synthesis, sorting, and assembly techniques, carbon nanomaterials are experiencing renewed interest as the basis of numerous scalable technologies. Here, we present an extensive review of carbon nanomaterials in electronic, optoelectronic, photovoltaic, and sensing devices with a particular focus on the latest examples based on the highest purity samples. Specific attention is devoted to each class of carbon nanomaterial, thereby allowing comparative analysis of the suitability of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene for each application area. In this manner, this article will provide guidance to future application developers and also articulate the remaining research challenges confronting this field.
958 citations
908 citations
TL;DR: This work revisits the key components of the battery (current collector, binder, and separator) and replaces them with the materials that support robust mechanical endurance of the lithium rechargeable battery.
Abstract: Wearable electronics represent a significant paradigm shift in consumer electronics since they eliminate the necessity for separate carriage of devices. In particular, integration of flexible electronic devices with clothes, glasses, watches, and skin will bring new opportunities beyond what can be imagined by current inflexible counterparts. Although considerable progresses have been seen for wearable electronics, lithium rechargeable batteries, the power sources of the devices, do not keep pace with such progresses due to tenuous mechanical stabilities, causing them to remain as the limiting elements in the entire technology. Herein, we revisit the key components of the battery (current collector, binder, and separator) and replace them with the materials that support robust mechanical endurance of the battery. The final full-cells in the forms of clothes and watchstraps exhibited comparable electrochemical performance to those of conventional metal foil-based cells even under severe folding–unfolding m...
402 citations
TL;DR: This work extends dielectrophoretic nanowire assembly to achieve a 98.5% yield of single nanowires assembled over 16,000 patterned electrode sites with submicrometre alignment precision.
Abstract: Single silicon nanowires are assembled onto patterned electrodes with a 98.5% yield and submicrometre precision using dielectrophoresis under constant fluid flow.
391 citations
TL;DR: The highly sensitive, recoverable, and reliable detection of NO gas ranging from 2 to 420 ppb with response time of several hundred seconds has been achieved at room temperature and suggests a promising application of graphene devices toward the human exhaled NO and environmental pollutant detections.
Abstract: We develop graphene-based devices fabricated by alternating current dielectrophoresis (ac-DEP) for highly sensitive nitric oxide (NO) gas detection. The novel device comprises the sensitive channels of palladium-decorated reduced graphene oxide (Pd-RGO) and the electrodes covered with chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene. The highly sensitive, recoverable, and reliable detection of NO gas ranging from 2 to 420 ppb with response time of several hundred seconds has been achieved at room temperature. The facile and scalable route for high performance suggests a promising application of graphene devices toward the human exhaled NO and environmental pollutant detections.
364 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, electrical transport measurements on individual single-wall nanotubes have been performed to confirm the theoretical predictions of single-walled nanotube quantum wires, and they have been shown to act as genuine quantum wires.
Abstract: Carbon nanotubes have been regarded since their discovery1 as potential molecular quantum wires. In the case of multi-wall nanotubes, where many tubes are arranged in a coaxial fashion, the electrical properties of individual tubes have been shown to vary strongly from tube to tube2,3, and to be characterized by disorder and localization4. Single-wall nanotubes5,6 (SWNTs) have recently been obtained with high yields and structural uniformity7. Particular varieties of these highly symmetric structures have been predicted to be metallic, with electrical conduction occurring through only two electronic modes8–10. Because of the structural symmetry and stiffness of SWNTs, their molecular wavefunctions may extend over the entire tube. Here we report electrical transport measurements on individual single-wall nanotubes that confirm these theoretical predictions. We find that SWNTs indeed act as genuine quantum wires. Electrical conduction seems to occur through well separated, discrete electron states that are quantum-mechanically coherent over long distance, that is at least from contact to contact (140nm). Data in a magnetic field indicate shifting of these states due to the Zeeman effect.
2,678 citations
TL;DR: Using the scalable technique of density-gradient ultracentrifugation, isolated narrow distributions of SWNTs in which >97% are within a 0.02-nm-diameter range are isolated.
Abstract: The heterogeneity of as-synthesized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) precludes their widespread application in electronics, optics and sensing. We report on the sorting of carbon nanotubes by diameter, bandgap and electronic type using structure-discriminating surfactants to engineer subtle differences in their buoyant densities. Using the scalable technique of density-gradient ultracentrifugation, we have isolated narrow distributions of SWNTs in which >97% are within a 0.02-nm-diameter range. Furthermore, using competing mixtures of surfactants, we have produced bulk quantities of SWNTs of predominantly a single electronic type. These materials were used to fabricate thin-film electrical devices of networked SWNTs characterized by either metallic or semiconducting behaviour.
2,219 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the current carrying capacity and reliability of multiwalled carbon nanotubes under high current densities (>109 A/cm2) were investigated and shown that no observable failure in the nanotube structure and no measurable change in the resistance are detected at temperatures up to 250 ˚C and for time scales up to 2 weeks.
Abstract: The current-carrying capacity and reliability studies of multiwalled carbon nanotubes under high current densities (>109 A/cm2) show that no observable failure in the nanotube structure and no measurable change in the resistance are detected at temperatures up to 250 °C and for time scales up to 2 weeks. Our results suggest that nanotubes are potential candidates as interconnects in future large-scale integrated nanoelectronic devices.
1,229 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the fabrication and electronic properties of devices based on individual carbon nanotubes are reviewed, and both metallic and semiconducting SWNTs are found to possess electrical characteristics that compare favorably to the best electronic materials available.
Abstract: Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have emerged as a very promising new class of electronic materials. The fabrication and electronic properties of devices based on individual SWNTs are reviewed. Both metallic and semiconducting SWNTs are found to possess electrical characteristics that compare favorably to the best electronic materials available. Manufacturability issues, however, remain a major challenge.
1,206 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the electrical properties of individual bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes have been measured and the results are interpreted in terms of singleelectron charging and resonant tunneling through the quantized energy levels of the nanotube composing the rope.
Abstract: The electrical properties of individual bundles, or “ropes,” of single-walled carbon nanotubes have been measured. Below about 10 kelvin, the low-bias conductance was suppressed for voltages less than a few millivolts. In addition, dramatic peaks were observed in the conductance as a function of a gate voltage that modulated the number of electrons in the rope. These results are interpreted in terms of single-electron charging and resonant tunneling through the quantized energy levels of the nanotubes composing the rope.
1,173 citations