Printing of single-wall carbon nanotubes via blister-based laser-induced forward transfer

Abstract

The blister-based laser-induced forward transfer (BB-LIFT) of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), both raw and dispersed in carboxymethyl cellulose films, is demonstrated. Under optimized laser fluences, ejection of the SWCNTs from the donor substrate was driven by fast blistering of an underlying aluminum film that was not accompanied by its rupture. To transfer the ‘polymer/nanotube’ composite, the basic BB-LIFT technique was modified by adding preliminary cutting of the donor layer into square pixels due to total ablation of both the metal and composite in the areas between the pixels. Micro-Raman investigations have proved that SWCNTs are transferred without significant degradation in both cases.