Direct current injection and thermocapillary flow for purification of aligned arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Xu Xie, Muhammad A. Wahab, Yuhang Li, Ahmad E. Islam, Bojan Tomic, Jiyuan Huang, Branden Burns, Eric Seabron, Simon N. Dunham, Frank Du, Jonathan Lin, William L. Wilson, Jizhou Song, Yonggang Huang, Muhammad A. Alam, John A. Rogers*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aligned arrays of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWNTs) represent ideal configurations for use of this class of material in high performance electronics. Development of means for removing the metallic SWNTs (m-SWNTs) in as-grown arrays represents an essential challenge. Here, we introduce a simple scheme that achieves this type of purification using direct, selective current injection through interdigitated electrodes into the m-SWNTs, to allow their complete removal using processes of thermocapillarity and dry etching. Experiments and numerical simulations establish the fundamental aspects that lead to selectivity in this process, thereby setting design rules for optimization. Single-step purification of arrays that include thousands of SWNTs demonstrates the effectiveness and simplicity of the procedures. The result is a practical route to large-area aligned arrays of purely s-SWNTs with low-cost experimental setups.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number134303
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume117
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 7 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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