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Electrical generation of heat in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and subsequent thermal transport into the surroundings can critically affect the design, operation, and reliability of electronic and optoelectronic devices based on these materials. Here we investigate such heat generation and transport characteristics in perfectly aligned, horizontal arrays of SWNTs integrated into transistor structures. We present quantitative assessments of local thermometry at individual SWNTs in these arrays, evaluated using scanning Joule expansion microscopy. Measurements at different applied voltages reveal electronic behaviors, including metallic and semiconducting responses, spatial variations in diameter or chirality, and localized defect sites. Analytical models, validated by measurements performed on different device structures at various conditions, enable accurate, quantitative extraction of temperature distributions at the level of individual SWNTs. Using current equipment, the spatial resolution and temperature precision are as good as ∼100 nm and ∼0.7 K, respectively.

There is a significant need for chemical identification and chemical imaging of nanofabricated structures and devices, especially for multiple materials integrated at the nanometer scale. Here we present nanofabrication, chemical identification, and nanometer-scale chemical imaging of polymer nanostructures with better than 100 nm spatial resolution. Polymer nanostructures of polyethylene, polystyrene, and poly(3-dodecylthiophene-2,5-diyl) were fabricated by tip-based nanofabrication. Nanometer-scale infrared measurements using atomic force microscopy infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) obtained quantitative chemical spectra of these nanostructures. We show chemical imaging of intersecting patterns of nanometer-scale polymer lines of different chemical compositions. The results indicate that for closely packed heterogeneous nanostructures, the spatial resolution of AFM-IR is not limited by nanometer-scale thermal diffusion, but is instead limited by the cantilever sensitivity and the signal-to-noise ratio of the AFM-IR system.

We demonstrate measurement and control of nanoscale single-asperity friction by using cantilever probes featuring an in situ solid-state heater in contact with silicon oxide substrates. The heater temperature was varied between 25 and 790 °C. By using a low thermal conductivity sample, silicon oxide, we are able to vary tip temperatures over a broad range from 25 ± 2 to 255 ± 25 °C. In ambient atmosphere with ∼30% relative humidity, the control of friction forces was achieved through the formation of a capillary bridge whose characteristics exhibit a strong dependence on temperature and sliding speed. The capillary condensation is observed to be a thermally activated process, such that heating in ambient air caused friction to increase due to the capillary bridge nucleating and growing. Above tip temperatures of ∼100 ± 10 °C, friction decreased drastically, which we attribute to controllably evaporating water from the contact at the nanoscale. In contrast, in a dry nitrogen atmosphere, friction was not affected appreciably by temperature changes. In the presence of a capillary, friction decreases at higher sliding speeds due to disruption of the capillary; otherwise, friction increases in accordance with the predictions of a thermally assisted sliding model. In ambient atmospheres, the rate of increase of friction with sliding speed at room temperature is sufficiently strong that the friction force changes from being smaller than the response at 76 ± 8 °C to being larger. Thus, an appropriate change in temperature can cause friction to increase at one sliding speed, while it decreases at another speed.

Although aligned arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have outstanding potential for use in broad classes of advanced semiconductor devices, the relatively large population of metallic SWNTs (m-SWNTs) that results from conventional growth techniques leads to significantly degraded performance. Recently reported methods based on thermocapillary effects that enable removal of m-SWNTs from such arrays offer exceptional levels of efficiency, but the procedures are cumbersome and require multiple processing steps. Here we present a simple, robust alternative that yields pristine arrays of purely semiconducting SWNTs (s-SWNTs) by use of irradiation with an infrared laser. Selective absorption by m-SWNTs coated with a thin organic film initiates nanoscale thermocapillary flows that lead to exposure only of the m-SWNTs. Reactive ion etching eliminates the m-SWNTs without damaging the s-SWNTs; removal of the film completes the purification. Systematic experimental studies and computational modeling of the thermal physics illuminates the essential aspects of this process. Demonstrations include use of arrays of s-SWNTs formed in this manner as semiconducting channel materials in statistically relevant numbers of transistors to achieve both high mobilities (900 cm2 V(-1) s(-1)) and switching ratios (10(4)). Statistical analysis indicates that the arrays contain at least 99.8% s-SWNTs and likely significantly higher.

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) would be the ideal building blocks for all carbon electronics; however, many challenges remain in developing an appropriate nanolithography that generates high-quality ribbons in registry with other devices. Here we report direct and local fabrication of GNRs by thermochemical nanolithography, which uses a heated AFM probe to locally convert highly insulating graphene fluoride to conductive graphene. Chemically isolated GNRs as narrow as 40 nm show p-doping behavior and sheet resistances as low as 22.9 KΩ/□ in air, only approximately 10× higher than that of pristine graphene. The impact of probe temperature and speed are examined as well as the variable-temperature transport properties of the GNR.

We report exceptional nanoscale wear and fouling resistance of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) tips integrated with doped silicon atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers. The resistively heated probe can reach temperatures above 600 degrees C. The batch fabrication process produces UNCD tips with radii as small as 15 nm, with average radius 50 nm across the entire wafer. Wear tests were performed on substrates of quartz, silicon carbide, silicon, or UNCD. Tips were scanned for more than 1 m at a scan speed of 25 mum s(-1) at temperatures ranging from 25 to 400 degrees C under loads up to 200 nN. Under these conditions, silicon tips are partially or completely destroyed, while the UNCD tips exhibit little or no wear, no signs of delamination, and exceptional fouling resistance. We demonstrate nanomanufacturing of more than 5000 polymer nanostructures with no deterioration in the tip.

This paper investigates molecular-scale polymer mechanical deformation during large-strain squeeze flow of polystyrene (PS) films, where the squeeze flow gap is close to the polymer radius of gyration (R(g)). Stress-strain and creep relations were measured during flat punch indentation from an initial film thickness of 170 nm to a residual film thickness of 10 nm in the PS films, varying molecular weight (M(w)) and deformation stress rate by over 2 orders of magnitude while temperatures ranged from 20 to 125 degrees C. In stress-strain curves exhibiting an elastic-to-plastic yield-like knee, the response was independent of M(w), as expected from bulk theory for glassy polymers. At high temperatures and long times sufficient to extinguish the yield-knee, the mechanical response M(w) degeneracy was broken, but no molecular confinement effects were observed during thinning. Creep measurements in films of 44K M(w) were well-approximated by bulk Newtonian no-slip flow predictions. For extrusions down to a film thickness of 10 nm, the mechanical relaxation in these polymer films scaled with temperature similar to Williams-Landel-Ferry scaling in bulk polymer. Films of 9000K M(w), extruded from an initial film thickness of 2R(g) to a residual film thickness of 0.5R(g), while showing stress-strain viscoelastic response similar to that of films of 900K M(w), suggestive of shear-thinning behavior, could not be matched to a constitutive flow model. In general, loading rate and magnitude influenced subsequent creep extrusion depth of high-M(w) films, with deeper final extrusions for high loading rates than for low loading rates. The measurements suggest that, for high-resolution nanoimprint lithography, mold flash or final residual film thickness can be reduced for high strain and strain rate loading of high-M(w) thin films.