Weigh as you grow for nanomaterials

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new way to gather detailed information on how different growth conditions affect the formation of carbon nanotubes and other nanostructures.

Instead of a large furnace that is normally used to grow nanotubes as part of the chemical vapour deposition process, the researchers grew bundles of nanotubes on a micro-heater built into an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip. The tiny device provided highly localised heating for only the locations where researchers wanted to grow the nanostructures and worked as a tiny cantilever.

Because the resonance frequency of the cantilever changed as the nanotubes grew, the researchers were able to use it to accurately measure the mass of the structures they produced. The next step in the research will be to combine the growth and measurement processes to permit in situ study of mass change during nanostructure growth.

“There are hundreds of materials, electronic, magnetic and optical, that are grown using a similar thermally-based technique,” said William P. King, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Mechanical Engineering. “By growing these structures on cantilevers, we will be able to determine exactly what is happening with the materials’ growth as it occurs. This could provide a new tool for investigating the growth of these structures under different conditions.”