Award Abstract #0210899
NIRT: Properties and Applications of Deformed Nanotubes

NSF Org:	ECCS Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems
Initial Amendment Date:	July 31, 2002
Latest Amendment Date:	July 31, 2002
Award Number:	0210899
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Rajinder P. Khosla ECCS Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems ENG Directorate for Engineering
Start Date:	August 1, 2002
Expires:	July 31, 2007 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$1300000
Investigator(s):	R. Fabian Pease Pease@cis.stanford.edu (Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	Stanford University 340 Panama Street STANFORD, CA 94305 650/723-2300
NSF Program(s):	ELECT, PHOTONICS, & DEVICE TEC, PARTICULATE &MULTIPHASE PROCES
Field Application(s):	0206000 Telecommunications
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 1674, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	1517, 1415

ABSTRACT

This proposal was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 01-157, category NIRT. Because of their extraordinary properties, carbon nanotubes (CNT) in general have been extensively studied. Local deformations of CNT's appear to exhibit combined electrical, mechanical, thermal and even optical properties that offer particularly intriguing promise for studying physical effects at the nm scale and for novel sensors and other devices. A team with the requisite diverse backgrounds and capabilities has been formed to exploit these new opportunities.

One core proposed activity is the modeling of deformed carbon nanotubes and other nanostructures (e.g. silicon nanowires) using atomic-scale simulation methods ranging from classical interatomic potential to tight-binding, ab-initio quantum simulation, and electronic and thermal conductance analysis. Quasi-static and molecular-dynamics methods will be used to study deformation processes as well as the indenting of polymer films using a CNT. The electronic conductance of deformed nanotubes will be investigated using Kubo and Landauer methods with self-consistent quantum simulations. Complementing the modeling activity will be experimental verification of the modeling results with two eventual applications in mind: 1) Nanoscale force and thermal sensors based on a nanotube bent in the shape of a hairpin. Such a device might allow temperature distributions to be mapped with a spatial resolution as fine as 10nm and also be able to respond to fast molecular dynamic force signals, and 2) A 'turnstile' electron emitter that employs the deformity in the shank of a nanotube to produce local band bending to control the transport of single electrons to the tip for field-assisted photoemission. Such a device would have significant impact on electron beam nanolithography through the elimination of shot noise and also on ultrahigh speed (100GHz) analog-to-digital conversion.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

A. Nojeh, A. Ural, R. F. W. Pease, and H. Dai. "Electric-field-directed growth of carbon nanotubes in two dimensions," J. Vac. Sci. Tech. ,, v.B 22, 2004, p. 3421.

A. Nojeh, W. -K. Wong, A. W. Baum, R. F. W. Pease, and H. Dai,. "Scanning electron microscopy of field-emitting individual single-walled carbon nanotubes," Appl. Phys. Lett., v.85, 2004, p. 112.

A. Nojeh, W. -K. Wong, E. Yieh, R. F. W. Pease, and H. Dai,. "Electron beam-stimulated field-emission from single-walled carbon nanotubes," J. Vac. Sci. Tech., v.B 22, 2004, p. 3124.

Jien Cao, Qian Wang, Dunwei Wang and Hongjie Dai. "Suspended Carbon Nanotube Quantum Wires with Two Gates," Small, v.1, 2004, p. 138.

Jien Cao, Qian Wang, Hongjie Dai. "Electromechanical Properties of Metallic, Quasi-metallic and Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes under Stretching," Physical Review Letters, v.93, 2004, p. 216803.

Jien Cao, Qian Wang, Marco Rolandi and Hongjie Dai. "The Aharonov-Bohm Interference and Beating in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Interferometers," PRL, v.93, 2004, p. 216803.

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