title: Dry contact transfer printing of aligned carbon nanotube patterns and characterization of their optical properties for diameter distribution and alignment.
abstract: A scalable and facile approach is demonstrated where as-grown patterns of well-aligned structures composed of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) synthesized via water-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) can be transferred, or printed, to any host surface in a single dry, room-temperature step using the growth substrate as a stamp. We demonstrate compatibility of this process with multiple transfers for large-scale device and specifically tailored pattern fabrication. Utilizing this transfer approach, anisotropic optical properties of the SWNT films are probed via polarized absorption, Raman, and photoluminescence spectroscopies. Using a simple model to describe optical transitions in the large SWNT species present in the aligned samples, polarized absorption data are demonstrated as an effective tool for accurate assignment of the diameter distribution from broad absorption features located in the infrared. This can be performed on either well-aligned samples or unaligned doped samples, allowing simple and rapid feedback of the SWNT diameter distribution that can be challenging and time-consuming to obtain in other optical methods. Furthermore, we discuss challenges in accurately characterizing alignment in structures of long versus short carbon nanotubes through optical techniques, where SWNT length makes a difference in the information obtained in such measurements. This work provides new insight to the efficient transfer and optical properties of an emerging class of long, large diameter SWNT species typically produced in the CVD process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA .
authors.forename: Cary L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Pint
authors.forename: Ya-Qiong
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Sharief
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moghazy
authors.forename: Tonya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cherukuri
authors.forename: Noe T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: Erik H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Haroz
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahzooni
authors.forename: Stephen K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Doorn
authors.forename: Junichiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kono
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasquali
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Hauge
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D016880:Anisotropy; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D011327:Printing / Q000379:methods*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D014835:Volatilization; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D014867:Water