title: Studies of self-reciprocating characteristic of carbon nanotube film-based cantilevers under light and thermal radiation.
abstract: Self-reciprocating characteristic of carbon nanotube film (CNF)-Cu cantilevers upon exposure to light and thermal radiation was observed. This unique characteristic offers an attractive technical platform for harvesting solar and thermal energies on a single chip, which has been demonstrated recently. This paper reports the detailed experimental studies of this phenomenon. It reveals that the low-frequency self-reciprocation, sensitive to the thicknesses of CNF and Cu and the intensity of the light and thermal radiation, is mainly attributed to the electrostatic interaction among randomly connected carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in CNF. This is due to the fact that electrical currents in CNF induced by light and thermal radiation also exhibit an oscillating characteristic, similar to the self-reciprocating characteristic of the CNF-Cu cantilevers. The mechanism for this observed phenomenon is also discussed by relating the optical, thermal, electrical, elastic and mechanical properties of the CNF.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Micromanufacturing, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana 71272, USA.
authors.forename: Zhongcheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Yi-Hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Que
mesh_terms: D055119:Elastic Modulus; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008027:Light; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation / Q000528:radiation effects; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D013499:Surface Properties / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon