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Nanotube electronics

Large-scale assembly of carbon nanotubes

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Abstract

Nanoscale electronic devices made from carbon nanotubes, such as transistors and sensors1,2,3,4,5, are much smaller and more versatile than those that rely on conventional microelectronic chips, but their development for mass production has been thwarted by difficulties in aligning and integrating the millions of nanotubes required. Inspired by biomolecular self-assembly processes, we have created chemically functionalized patterns on a surface, to which pre-grown nanotubes in solution can align themselves in huge numbers. This method allows wafer-scale fabrication of millions of carbon-nanotube circuits with single-nanotube precision, and may enable nanotube-based devices, such as computer chips and high-density sensor arrays, to be produced industrially.

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Figure 1: Atomic-force micrographs showing large-scale self-assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes (swCNTs).

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Author notes

  1. Seunghun Hong

    Present address: Department of Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, South Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Center for Materials Research and Technology and Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 32306, Florida, USA

    Saleem G. Rao, Ling Huang, Wahyu Setyawan & Seunghun Hong

Authors
  1. Saleem G. Rao
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  2. Ling Huang
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  3. Wahyu Setyawan
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  4. Seunghun Hong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seunghun Hong.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Rao, S., Huang, L., Setyawan, W. et al. Large-scale assembly of carbon nanotubes. Nature 425, 36–37 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/425036a

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