FREE SPACE CONSTRUCTION WITH CARBON NANOTUBES

摘要

Construction of carbon nanotube assemblies within scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopes (TEM) is being pursued. Inside the electron microscopes, the imaging and construction operations can be accomplished with the electron beam. Multiple degree of freedom actuators with sub-nanometer resolution built specifically for these microscopes allow for manipulation of nanotubes in three dimensions. Electron beam induced deposition (EBID) of both the "contaminating" background gases and controllably introduced gas precursors facilitates the attachment of nanotubes to each other and to manipulator probes. Voltage pulses and mechanical strain cut nanotubes to length. Simple structures have been built demonstrating these capabilities.