AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Thursday Sessions
       Session NS-ThP

Paper NS-ThP11
Cutting of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Tip of Atomic Force Microscope

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 5:30 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Nanoscale Science and Technology Poster Session
Presenter: D.-H. Kim, KRISS, Korea
Authors: D.-H. Kim, KRISS, Korea
K.Y. Jung, NanoFocus Inc., Korea
J. Choi, KRISS, Korea
S.J. Ahn, KRISS, Korea
B.C. Park, KRISS, Korea
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We demonstrate cutting a multi-walled carbon nanotube attached on an atomic force microscope tip by flowing direct current through the tube, as a method to precisely control nanotube tip length. Mechanical contact was made at the target cutting position between a sharp metal wire (electrode 1) and a nanotube on silicon mother tip (electrode 2), and then a voltage was applied to electrode 1 until a current flowed through and cut the nanotube. Nanotubes were reproducibly cut at the contact point with the wire, and as the results we could achieve 30 nm as the cutting precision, and 100 nm as the shortest nanotube protrusion. We found that the process happened at either current ranges: higher than 100 µA and as small as 1 µA. High current-process happens fast and is attributed to unimolecular decomposition reaction, while small current-process is a slow chemical etching, being activated by the current.