Optically controlled assembly of single-walled carbon nanotube devices

Despite significant progress made in controllable synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), fabrication of SWNT-based devices and systems is still lagged behind due to the absence of efficient integration technique to precisely place SWNTs into nano/micro-architectures. Here we demonstrate a novel in-situ synthetic method for precise and direct integration of SWNTs into predesigned nano/micro-architectures. Pre-patterned substrates containing sharp Ru tip arrays were used in a laser-assisted chemical vapour deposition for growing SWNTs. The sharp metallic tips were fabricated to enhance optical near-field effects which in turn stimulate and confine the growth of SWNTs through localized heating and optical trapping. We show that the integration of SWNTs has nanoscale precision defined by the localized heating and optical trapping effects. Moreover, the laser based synthetic approach also demonstrated laser polarization dependence and low-substrate-temperature growth, which made this approach a potentially scalable technique for fabricating SWNT-based devices and systems.