Nanomanipulation and Nanoassembly of Carbon Nanotubes Inside Electron Microscopes

We report nanomanipulation and nanoassembly of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) through nanorobotic manipulation inside electron microscopes. A hybrid nanorobotic manipulation system, which is integrated with a nanorobotic manipulator inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and nanorobotic manipulators inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM), is used. The elasticity of a multiwalled CNT (MWNT) is measured inside a TEM. The telescoping MWNT is fabricated by peeling off outer layers through destructive fabrication process. The electrostatic actuation of telescoping MWNT is directly observed by a TEM. A cutting technique for CNTs assisted by the presence of oxygen gas is also presented. The cutting procedure was conducted in less than 1 minute using a low-energy electron beam inside a scanning electron microscope. A bending technique of a CNT assisted by the presence of oxygen gas is also applied for the 3-D fabrication of nanostructure. We expect that these techniques will be applied for the rapid prototyping nanoassembly of various CNT nanodevices.