Mechanism of Very Large Scale Assembly of SWNTs in Template Guided Fluidic Assembly Process

Very large scale patterned single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) networks were fabricated using a newly developed template guided fluidic assembly process. A mechanism for SWNT assembly and their control is described here. To maximize the directed assembly efficiency of SWNTs toward a wafer level SWNT deposition, Si or SiO2 substrate was pretreated with precisely controlled SF6, O-2, and Ar plasma. Chemical and physical properties of the surface were characterized using several surface characterization techniques to investigate and control the mechanism of SWNT assembly. We found that hydrophilic chemical groups such as hydroxides were created on the silicon or silicon oxide surface through the controlled plasma treatment and fluidic SWNT dip-coating process. Also we found that nanoscale rough surface structures formed during the plasma treatment significantly increased the number of dangling bonds and hydroxide functional groups on the surface. These combined chemical and physical enhancements that attract SWNTs in the aqueous solution enable us to build highly organized and very large scale SWNT network architectures effectively in various dimensions and geometries.