(Invited) Controlling Carbon Nanotubes By DNA: From Separation to Integration

Abstract

A unique feature of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) material is its structure diversity: within the same rolled-up graphene sheet structure framework one finds SWCNTs of different electronic bandgaps: metals with zero bandgap, quasi-metals with meV bandgap and semiconductors with ~ 1 eV bandgap. However, making use of SWCNT structure diversity requires a method to obtain SWCNTs of defined structures. In this contribution, we present our current state of DNA-based sorting of SWCNTs. In particular, we show our ability to put any DNA sequence on any SWCNT species, enabling DNA-based assembly of high-density SWCNT devices. In the end, we discuss the design of a device we call Photon Perceptron Array (PPA). PPA is an array of micron-sized spectrometer units that can measure the spectrum of incoming photon in the wavelength range of 200 nm to 2000 nm (and possibly going all the way to THz), with a spatial resolution comparable to the size of a single spectrometer unit. Each spectrometer unit is composed of a set of distinct photodetectors made of SWCNTs of defined atomic structures, placed in parallel with tube-to-tube separations controlled at nanometer precision by DNA origami technology. A high-density array of identical spectrometers can be constructed by placing DNA origami/carbon nanotube complexes in photolithographically-defined locations. PPA may be used for spectral imaging in many fields of science and technology.