Straightening suspended single walled carbon nanotubes by ion irradiation

Single walled carbon nanotubes grown suspended between pillars of Si/SiO2 structures are straightened by ion beam scans. In addition, the ion irradiation selectively removes nanotubes lying on the substrate, leaving the suspended nanotubes in place. This strategy provides a facile way to produce large area connected networks of suspended straight nanotubes. Although ion irradiation induces structural modifications to nanotubes and introduces defects into the nanotube lattice, the form and dimensions of the nanotubes remain close to that of original grown structures. Nanotube networks consisting of perfectly straight and suspended structures could serve as a platform for various applications.