Manipulation, Assembly, and Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

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w:\awards\awards96\*.doc 9802560 Johnson This experimental focused research group project is devoted to manipulation, assembly and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes. The goals are to find ways to fabricate and assemble simple circuits from nanotubes, and to assess the properties. Samples of single wall nanotubes will be synthesized and supplied for these studies by research groups at Rice University and the CNRS group at Montpellier, France. The experimental program will structurally characterize samples using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy, explore modification of the electronic properties by chemical doping, and develop new protocols for separation, manipulation, and assembly of nanotube-derived structures using advanced electron microscopy and scanning probe manipulation. New methods for establishing electrical contact to tube-derived structures will be developed. Theory of the electronic phenomena in these structures willl be studied with an emphasis on understanding the effects of intertube interactions in tube clusters and tube bundles, and the effects of contacts and linkages between tubes on the experimentally observed electronic properties. This research program is interdisciplinary in nature and involves one or more postdoctoral and graduate students, who receive excellent training in preparation for careers in industry, government laboratories or academia. %%% This experimental focused research group project seeks to explore ways of making nano-meter -scale electron devices from "nanotubes". Nanotubes are hollow cylinders of carbon atoms, arranged in chemical bonds similar to those in graphite (pencil lead). Nanotubes are closely related to "buckyballs", which are hollow balls composed of 60 carbon atoms, arranged in a fashion resembling a (nano-meter-scale) soccer ball. A nanometer is one bil lionth of a meter, or about 10 atomic diameters or about 20 millionths of the diameter of a human hair. Nanotubes are electrical conductors and are considered to have potential for a nano-meter scale electronics technology of the future. This research project is devoted to manipulation, assembly and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes. The goals are to find ways to fabricate and assemble simple circuits from nanotubes, and to assess the properties. Samples of single wall nanotubes will be synthesized and supplied for these studies by research groups at Rice University and by the CNRS group at Montpellier, France. The experimental program will structurally characterize samples using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy, explore modification of the electronic properties by chemical doping, and develop new protocols for separation, manipulation, and assembly of nanotube-derived structures using advanced electron microscopy and scanning probe manipulation. New methods for establishing electrical contact to tube-derived structures will be developed. Theory of the electronic phenomena in these structures willl be studied with an emphasis on understanding the effects of intertube interactions in tube clusters and tube bundles, and the effects of contacts and linkages between tubes on the experimentally observed electronic properties. This research program is interdisciplinary in nature and involves one or more postdoctoral and graduate students, who receive excellent training in preparation for careers in industry, government laboratories or academia. ***