Electrostatically-actuated micro cantilevers for electro-mechanical measurement of single-walled carbon nanotubes grown by catalytic CVD

We have build a system for real-time in-situ measurement of electromechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) growing between electrostatically actuated silicon cantilevers faced each other with a micrometer-order gap. Our catalytic CVD method using ethanol as a carbon source was employed along with a newly developed technique that can synthesize SWNTs directly on the surface of Si substrate at the CVD temperature of as low as 650°C. SWNTs were successfully grown between the 10-micrometer gap of the measuring probes. Mechanical properties of the probing cantilevers under the CVD condition were then measured to assess the feasibility of real-time measurement of SWNT growth.