Abstract
Carbon nanotubes, which have intrinsically small diameters and high aspect ratios and which buckle reversibly, make potentially ideal structures for use as tips in scanning probe microscopies, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM)1,2,3,4. However, the present method of mechanically attaching nanotube bundles for tip fabrication is time consuming and selects against the smallest nanotubes, limiting the quality of tips. We have developed a technique for growing individual carbon nanotube probe tips directly, with control over the orientation, by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) from the ends of silicon tips. Tips grown in this way may become widely used in high-resolution probe microscopy imaging.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Controlled growth of a single carbon nanotube on an AFM probe
Microsystems & Nanoengineering Open Access 15 October 2021
-
A carbon nanotube integrated microfluidic device for blood plasma extraction
Scientific Reports Open Access 11 September 2018
-
Reliable Diameter Control of Carbon Nanotube Nanobundles Using Withdrawal Velocity
Nanoscale Research Letters Open Access 01 September 2016
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Get just this article for as long as you need it
$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout


References
Dai, H., Hafner, J. H., Rinzler, A. G., Colbert, D. T. & Smalley, R. E. Nature 384, 147–150 (1996).
Wong, S. S., Harper, J. D., Lansbury, P. T. & Lieber, C. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120, 603–604 (1998).
Wong, S. S., Joselevich, E., Woolley, A. T., Cheung, C. L. & Lieber, C. M. Nature 394, 52–55 (1998).
Wong, S. S. et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 3465–3467 (1998).
Lehmann, V. Thin Solid Films 255, 1–4 (1995).
Ronkel, F., Schultze, J. W. & Arens-Fischeer, R. Thin Solid Films 276, 40–43 (1996).
Li, W. Z. et al. Science 274, 1701–1703 (1996).
Vesenka, J., Manne, S., Giberson, R., Marsh, T. & Henderson, E. Biophys. J. 65, 992–997 (1993).
Perkins, S. J., Nealis, A. S., Sutton, B. J. & Feinstein, A. J. Mol. Biol. 221, 1345–1366 (1991).
Shao, Z., Mou, J., Czajkowsky, D. M., Yang, J. & Yuan, J.-Y. Adv. Phys. 45, 1–86 (1996).
Muller, D., Amrein, M. & Engel, A. J. Struct. Biol. 119, 172–188 (1997).
Fritz, J., Anselmetti, D., Jarchow, J. & Fernandez-Buusquets, X. J. Struct. Biol. 119, 165–171 (1997).
Zhang, Y., Sheng, S. & Shao, Z. Biophys. J. 71, 2168–2176 (1996).
Kong, J., Soh, H. T., Cassell, A. M., Quate, C. F. & Dai, H. Nature 395, 878–881 (1998).
Hafner, J. H. et al. Chem. Phys. Lett. 296, 195–202 (1998).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hafner, J., Cheung, C. & Lieber, C. Growth of nanotubes for probe microscopy tips. Nature 398, 761–762 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/19658
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/19658
This article is cited by
-
Controlled growth of a single carbon nanotube on an AFM probe
Microsystems & Nanoengineering (2021)
-
A review featuring the fundamentals and advancements of polymer/CNT nanocomposite application in aerospace industry
Polymer Bulletin (2021)
-
A carbon nanotube integrated microfluidic device for blood plasma extraction
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
Reliable Diameter Control of Carbon Nanotube Nanobundles Using Withdrawal Velocity
Nanoscale Research Letters (2016)
-
Energy dissipation in intercalated carbon nanotube forests with metal layers
Applied Physics A (2016)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.