Large-Scale Direct Patterning of Aligned Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Arrays Using Dip-Pen Nanolithography

Abstract

The strength of dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) is the ability to create nano- or microarrays of organic compounds and nanomaterials in a nondestructive and direct-write manner. However, transporting large-sized ink materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), has been a significant challenge. We report a direct-write patterning of aligned single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) arrays on silicon oxide using DPN. The patterned SWNT arrays show a high degree of alignment and controllable width ranging from 2 μm down to 8 nm. Furthermore, field-effect transistors based on these SWNT arrays show p-type characteristic. High-throughput patterning of the aligned SWNTs over a large area was also achieved via polymer pen lithography (PPL). The reported technique will further expand the application of SWNTs to diverse nanoelectronic devices.