Controlled Thinning of Packed and Aligned Carbon Nanotube Films to Monolayer

Atomically thin, aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) films are essential for various applications ranging from electronics to quantum emission. For real-world applications, it is necessary to realize ordered ensemble arrays of aligned carbon nanotubes in the monolayer limit with precisely controlled density, alignment, and single chirality ideally. The controlled vacuum filtration technique has demonstrated distinct advantages in this respect [1]. However, achievable film thicknesses in controlled vacuum filtration are restricted to approximately 10 to several 10s of nanometers to preserve alignment during fabrication. In this work, we introduce a thinning methodology for CNT films produced by controlled vacuum filtration, employing a chemical etching protocol similar to that used for multiple-layer graphene [2], enabling the fabrication of aligned CNT films with monolayer thicknesses. The resulting 2D sheets of aligned CNTs with 1D character maintain high packing densities across wafer-scale areas, with etch precision down to 1 nm/etch cycle. The aligned CNT films maintain their well-aligned structure after layer-by-layer removals. This approach represents a significant advance towards the precise control of light-matter interactions, opening new avenues for next-generation optoelectronic applications.

 

 

References

[1] X. He, Nat. Nanotechnol. 11, 633-638 (2016).

[2] A. Dimiev, Science 331, 13495-13507 (2011).