Temperature control of microheaters for localized carbon nanotube synthesis

The temperatures of microheater devices for the localized growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were brought under control to a great extent by providing the appropriate electric load (direct current or voltage) to the microheater circuit. The electrical-thermal coupled field simulations show that high temperatures only appear in very local areas under certain electric load. The infrared image of the produced microheater device agrees well with the simulation results. By applying the selected current to the fabricated microheater device and providing the mixed reaction gases, long, dense, and vertically well aligned CNT bundles were successfully grown very locally on the substrate. The control of temperatures paves the way to the localized growth of CNTs with good compatibility with CMOS process, and thus facilitating the direct integration of CNTs into future micro/nano electronics as interconnects. What's more, the method will also excite more in depth investigations on the applications of microheaters in many other fields.