Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) bind strongly to rigid ruthenium metallodendrimers. High valence ions effectively coagulate these nanotubes from stable dispersions in N,N-dimethylforamide. While ruthenium salts and small [Ru(diimine)(3)](2+) complexes also coagulate the nanotubes, they require much higher concentrations and are easily extracted from the nanotubes with acetonitrile. Enant...

Properties and potential applications of carbon nanotubes are summarized by emphasizing the aspects of nanoelectronics and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). The main technologies for the assembly of nanodevices through nanomanipulations with scanning probe microscopes and nanorobotic manipulators are overviewed, focusing on that of nanotubes. Key techniques for nanoassembly include the prep...

DNA origami is a powerful platform for assembling gold nanoparticle constructs, an important class of nanostructure with numerous applications. Such constructs are assembled by the association of complementary DNA oligomers. These association reactions have yields of <100%, requiring the development of methods to purify the desired product. We study the performance of centrifugation as a separa...

We demonstrate measurement and control of single-asperity friction by using cantilever probes featuring an in situ solid-state heater. The heater temperature was varied between 25 and 650 °C (tip temperatures from 25 ± 2 to 120 ± 20 °C). Heating caused friction to increase by a factor of 4 in air at ∼ 30% relative humidity, but in dry nitrogen friction decreased by ∼ 40%. Higher velocity reduce...

The ability to image the optical near-fields of nanoscale structures, map their morphology, and concurrently obtain spectroscopic information, all with high spatiotemporal resolution, is a highly sought-after technique in nanophotonics. As a step toward this goal, we demonstrate the mapping of electromagnetic forces between a nanoscale tip and an optically excited sample consisting of plasmonic...

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful tool for studying tribology (adhesion, friction, and lubrication) at the nanoscale and is emerging as a critical tool for nanomanufacturing. However, nanoscale wear is a key limitation of conventional AFM probes that are made of silicon and silicon nitride (SiNx). Here we present a method for systematically quantifying tip wear, which consists of sequ...

At neutral pH, DNA is a charged molecule. As such, it responds directly to an electric field, the phenomenon of electrophoresis. In contrast, the phenomenon of dielectrophoresis occurs when there is a dc or an ac electric field gradient. In that case, the development of nonuniform electric fields causes a force on any polarizable object, charged or neutral. The term dielectrophoresis was coined...

Current top down manipulation systems used in micro and nanomanufacturing are many orders of magnitude larger than the parts being handled, leading to difficult tradeoffs between their precision, throughput and cost. This paper presents recent research progress in the manufacturing of millimeter sized robotic positioning technology that allows combining high precision with high throughput along...

Nanoscale wear is a key limitation of conventional atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes that results in decreased resolution, accuracy, and reproducibility in probe-based imaging, writing, measurement, and nanomanufacturing applications. Diamond is potentially an ideal probe material due to its unrivaled hardness and stiffness, its low friction and wear, and its chemical inertness. However, the...

Large-area nanopatterning technology has demonstrated high potential which can signifi‐ cantly enhance the performance of many devices and products, such as LEDs, solar cells, hard disk drives, laser diodes, display, etc [1]. For example, nano-patterned sapphire substrates (NPSS) and photonic crystals (PhC) have been considered as the most effective approaches to improve the light output effici...