CNT handling with van der Waals force inside a SEM for FET application

Abstract

This paper presented a method of picking up carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from nanotube bulk by van der Waals force between the carbon nanotubes and AFM cantilever under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A manipulation strategy was established based on SEM by analyzing the van der Waals force of three different types of contacting model. Three groups of experiments were designed and carried out to investigate the effects of different factors which conclude pickup angle, pickup contact area between the carbon nanotube and the cantilever and pickup speed of the end-effector. The results shown that a pickup angle at 90.1° and a pickup speed at 10nm/step with a pickup contact length more than 1.5μm would increasing the probability of picking up CNT successfully.