Nanomanipulation of 2 inch wafer fabrication of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays by nanoimprint lithography

Carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays are typically defined by electron beam lithography (EBL), and hence limited to small areas due to the low throughput. To obtain wafer‐scale fabrication we propose large area thermal nanoimprint lithography (NIL). A 2‐inch stamp master is defined using EBL for subsequent pattern transfer to a hard metal mask before deep reactive ion etching (RIE) to form the stamp protrusions.

This stamp master is then pressed against a wafer covered with nanoimprint resist, at a temperature above the glass transition temperature, transferring the pattern to polymer. Using this process, efficient production of wafer‐scale/larger arrays of CNTs has been achieved. The CNTs have been deposited by wafer‐scale plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) of C2H2/NH3.

Substrates containing such nanotubes have been used to automate nanorobotic manipulation sequences of individual CNTs and their assembly into prototypic CNT‐based devices.