Self-aligned growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes using optical near-fieldeffects

Abstract

Self-aligned growth of ultra-short single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was realized byutilizing optical near-field effects in a laser-assisted chemical vapor deposition(LCVD) process. By introducing the optical near-field effects, bridge structurescontaining single suspended SWNT channels were successfully fabricated through theLCVD process at a relatively low substrate temperature. Raman spectroscopy andI–V analyses have been carried out to characterize the SWNT-bridge structures. Numericalsimulations using a high-frequency structure simulator revealed that significantenhancement of local heating occurs at metallic electrode tips under laser irradiation; it isabout one order of magnitude higher than that in the rest of the electrodes. This techniquesuggests a novel approach to in situ low-temperature fabrication of SWNT-based devices ina precisely controlled manner, based on the nanoscale heating enhancement induced by theoptical near-field effects.