Orthogonal self-assembly of carbon nanotube crossbar architectures by simultaneous graphoepitaxy and field-directed growth

Crossbar arrays of single-wall carbon nanotubes are produced spontaneously in a single step of chemical vapor deposition by simultaneous graphoepitaxy along faceted nanosteps and field-directed growth, perpendicular to each other. The two alignment mechanisms take place selectively on miscut C-plane sapphire and patterned amorphous SiO2 islands, respectively, without mutual interference, producing dense nanotube grids, with up to 12 junctions per square micrometer. This one-step method of orthogonal self-assembly may open up new possibilities for nanotube circuit integration.