Positioning Pd catalyst particles for carbon nanotube growth using charge patterns created with a scanning electron microscope

Abstract

Positioning of charged nanoparticles with the help of charge patterns in an insulator substrate is a known method. However, the creation of charge patterns with a scanning electron microscope for this is relatively new. Here a scanning electron microscope is used for the creation of localized charge patterns in an insulator, while a glowing wire generator is used as the nanoparticle source. The deposited palladium nanoparticles are used as catalysts for the localized growth of carbon nanotubes in a chemical vapor deposition oven. The authors show first the results on local carbon nanotube growth using this procedure.