Directed assembly of nanoelements using electrostatically addressable templates

Abstract

Directed assembly of nanoparticles and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) using electrostatically addressable templates has been demonstrated. Nanoparticles down to 50 nm are assembled on the Au micro and nanowires of the templates in a DC and AC electric fields. The nanoparticles can be assembled in monolayers and thicker layers. Single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are also assembled without alignment on Au wires using the nanotemplate. As the size of the template wires is reduced to nanoscale dimensions, an AC electric field proves to be more effective for nanoparticle assembly than a DC electric field. © 2006 Materials Research Society.