Automated circuit fabrication and direct characterization of carbon nanotube vibrations

Since their discovery, carbon nanotubes have fascinated many researchers due to their unprecedented properties. However, a major drawback in utilizing carbon nanotubes for practical applications is the difficulty in positioning or growing them at specific locations. Here we present a simple, rapid, non-invasive and scalable technique that enables optical imaging of carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotube scaffold serves as a seed for nucleation and growth of small size, optically visible nanocrystals. After imaging the molecules can be removed completely, leaving the surface intact, and thus the carbon nanotube electrical and mechanical properties are preserved. The successful and robust optical imaging allowed us to develop a dedicated image processing algorithm through which we are able to demonstrate a fully automated circuit design resulting in field effect transistors and inverters. Moreover, we demonstrate that this imaging method allows not only to locate carbon nanotubes but also, as in the case of suspended ones, to study their dynamic mechanical motion.