Phillip Williams

Effect of Alignment on Transport Properties of Carbon Nanotube/Metallic Junctions

Ballistic and spin coherent transport in single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are predicted to enable high sensitivity single-nanotube devices for strain and magnetic field sensing. Based upon these phenomena, electron beam lithography procedures have been developed to study the transport properties of purified HiPCO single walled carbon nanotubes for development into sensory materials for nondestructive evaluation. Purified nanotubes are dispersed in solvent suspension and then deposited on the device substrate before metallic contacts are defined and deposited through electron beam lithography. This procedure produces randomly dispersed ropes, typically 2 – 20 nm in diameter, of single walled carbon nanotubes. Transport and scanning probe microscopy studies have shown a good correlation between the junction resistance and tube density, alignment, and contact quality. In order to improve nanotubes at specific locations on the substrate surface. Lithographic techniques are used to define local areas where high frequency electric fields are to be concentrated. Application of the aligned with the electric field lines. A second electron beam lithography layer is then used to deposit metallic contacts across the aligned tubes. Experimental measurements are presented showing the increased tube alignment and improvement in the transport properties of the junctions.

Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes Using Iron Catalysts

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were synthesized via a novel chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique incorporating iron catalysts. Stable aqueous solutions of the nanotubes using the anionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate were also obtained, and the properties of as-produced SWNTs were documented through atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy and compared with purified HiPCO SWNTs as a reference.

Nondestructive Evaluation Techniques for Development and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Based Superstructures

Recently, multiple commercial vendors have developed capability for the production of large-scale quantities of high-quality carbon nanotube sheets and yarns [1]. While the materials have found use in electrical shielding applications, development of structural systems composed of a high volume fraction of carbon nanotubes is still lacking [2]. A recent NASA program seeks to address this by prototyping a structural nanotube composite with strength-to-weight ratio exceeding current state-of-the-art carbon fiber composites. Commercially available carbon nanotube sheets, tapes, and yarns are being processed into high volume fraction carbon nanotube-polymer nanocomposites. Nondestructive evaluation techniques have been applied throughout this development effort for material characterization and process control. This paper will report on the progress of these efforts, including magnetic characterization of residual catalyst content, Raman scattering characterization of nanotube diameter and nanotube strain, an...

Chirality Characterization of Dispersed Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Raman scattering and optical absorption spectroscopy are used for the chirality characterization of HiPco single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) dispersed in aqueous solution with the surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate. Radial breathing mode (RBM) Raman peaks for semiconducting and metallic SWNTs are identified by directly comparing the Raman spectra with the Kataura plot. The SWNT diameters are calculated from these resonant peak positions. Next, a list of (n, m) pairs, yielding the SWNT diameters within a few percent of that obtained from each resonant peak position, is established. The interband transition energies for the list of SWNT (n, m) pairs are calculated based on the tight binding energy expression for each list of the (n, m) pairs, and the pairs yielding the closest values to the corresponding experimental optical absorption peaks are selected. The results reveal that (1, 11), (4, 11), and (0, 11) as the most probable chiralities of the semiconducting nanotubes. The results also reveal that (4, 16), (6, 12) and (8, 8) are the most probable chiralities for the metallic nanotubes. Directly relating the Raman scattering data to the optical absorption spectra, the present method is considered the simplest technique currently available. Another advantage of this technique is the use of the E(sup 8)(sub 11) peaks in the optical absorption spectrum in the analysis to enhance the accuracy in the results.