Alignment controlled growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes on quartz substrates

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) possess extraordinary electrical properties, with many possible applications in electronics. Dense, horizontally aligned arrays of linearly configured SWNTs represent perhaps the most attractive and scalable way to implement this class of nanomaterial in practical systems. Recent work shows that templated growth of tubes on certain crystalline substrates yields arrays with the necessary levels of perfection, as demonstrated by the formation of devices and full systems on quartz. This paper examines advanced implementations of this process on crystalline quartz substrates with different orientations, to yield strategies for forming diverse, but well-defined horizontal configurations of SWNTs. Combined experimental and theoretical studies indicate that angle-dependent van der Waals interactions can account for nearly all aspects of alignment on quartz with X, Y, Z, and ST cuts, as well as quartz with disordered surface layers. These findings provide important insights into methods for guided growth of SWNTs, and possibly other classes of nanomaterials, for applications in electronics, sensing, photodetection, light emission, and other areas.