Design and modeling of electrode geometry for intelligent manufacturing and assembly of CNT-based nano devices

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been intensely studied, and are good candidates for many electronics and sensing applications. These applications will require moving (deposit) and orienting carbon nanotubes to specific location, and separating CNTs with semiconducting and metallic band structure. Furthermore, effective micro electrode design and fabrication for deposition of carbon nanotubes becomes essential in fully actualizing the benefits and applications of CNTs. In this paper, we present a new mathematical model for designing micro electrode geometry and electric field for carbon nanotubes application. The micro electrode design is based on the assumption that the electrical potential at any point (x, y, z) created by a micro electrode of interest is defined by a polynomial that obeys Laplace's equation. By substituting this polynomial into Laplace's equation the corresponding equipotentials can therefore be determined, and these in turn can be used to define the required micro electrode boundaries for use in carbon nanotube deposition, manipulation, and implementation using dielectrophoresis. © 2008 IEEE.