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Growth of nanotubes for probe microscopy tips

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Abstract

Carbon nanotubes, which have intrinsically small diameters and high aspect ratios and which buckle reversibly, make potentially ideal structures for use as tips in scanning probe microscopies, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM)1,2,3,4. However, the present method of mechanically attaching nanotube bundles for tip fabrication is time consuming and selects against the smallest nanotubes, limiting the quality of tips. We have developed a technique for growing individual carbon nanotube probe tips directly, with control over the orientation, by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) from the ends of silicon tips. Tips grown in this way may become widely used in high-resolution probe microscopy imaging.

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Figure 1: Characterization of CVD nanotube tips.
Figure 2: Imaging IgM macromolecules with a CVD nanotube tip at high resolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Jason H. Hafner, Chin Li Cheung & Charles M. Lieber

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  1. Jason H. Hafner
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  2. Chin Li Cheung
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  3. Charles M. Lieber
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Hafner, J., Cheung, C. & Lieber, C. Growth of nanotubes for probe microscopy tips. Nature 398, 761–762 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/19658

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