Ultrashort single-wall carbon nanotubes reveal field-emission coulomb blockade and highest electron-source brightness.

We present here well-defined Coulomb staircases using an original field-emission experiment on several individual in situ-grown single-wall carbon nanotubes. A unique in situ process was applied nine times to progressively shorten one single-wall carbon nanotube down to ≃10 nm, which increased the oscillations periods from 5.5 to 80 V, the temperature for observable Coulomb staircase to 1100 K and the currents to 1.8 µA. This process led to the brightest electron source ever reported [9×1011 A/(str m2 V)].

Macroscopic fibers and ribbons of oriented carbon nanotubes.

A simple method was used to assemble single-walled carbon nanotubes into indefinitely long ribbons and fibers. The processing consists of dispersing the nanotubes in surfactant solutions, recondensing the nanotubes in the flow of a polymer solution to form a nanotube mesh, and then collating this mesh to a nanotube fiber. Flow-induced alignment may lead to a preferential orientation of the nanotubes in the mesh that has the form of a ribbon. Unlike classical carbon fibers, the nanotube fibers can be strongly bent without breaking. Their obtained elastic modulus is 10 times higher than the modulus of high-quality bucky paper.

Acoustoelectric effects in carbon nanotubes

We report observations of acoustoelectric effects in carbon nanotubes. We excite sound in &mgr;m long ropes of single walled carbon nanotubes suspended between two metallic contacts by applying radio-frequency electric field. The sound is detected by measuring either the dc resistance of the tubes in a region of strong temperature dependence (in the vicinity of superconducting or metal-insulator transition), or their critical current. We show that, depending on the excitation power, the vibrations produce either electron heating or phase coherence breaking.

Synthesis of hexagonal boron nitride graphene-like few layers.

Self-standing highly crystallized hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) mono-, bi- and few-layers have been obtained for the first time via the Polymer Derived Ceramics (PDCs) route by adding lithium nitride (Li3N) micropowders to liquid-state polyborazylene (PBN). Incorporation of Li3N as a crystallization promoter allows the onset of crystallization of h-BN at a lower temperature (1200 °C) than under classical conditions (1800 °C). The hexagonal structure was confirmed by both electron and X-ray diffraction.

Slippage of water past superhydrophobic carbon nanotube forests in microchannels.

We present in this Letter an experimental characterization of liquid flow slippage over superhydrophobic surfaces made of carbon nanotube forests, incorporated in microchannels. We make use of a particle image velocimetry technique to achieve the submicrometric resolution on the flow profile necessary for accurate measurement of the surface hydrodynamic properties. We demonstrate boundary slippage on the Cassie superhydrophobic state, associated with slip lengths of a few microns, while a vanishing slip length is found in the Wenzel state when the liquid impregnates the surface. Varying the lateral roughness scale L of our carbon nanotube forest-based superhydrophobic surfaces, we demonstrate that the slip length varies linearly with L in line with theoretical predictions for slippage on patterned surfaces.

Tuning of nanotube mechanical resonances by electric field pulling.

We show here that field emission (FE) can be used to directly observe the vibration resonances nu(R) of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and that the tension created by the applied field allows the tuning of these resonances by up to a factor of 10. The resonances are observable by the changes they create in the FE pattern or the emitted FE current. The tuning is shown to be linear in voltage and to follow from the basic physics of stretched strings. The method allows one to study the mechanical properties of individual multiwall carbon nanotubes within an ensemble and follow their evolution as the CNTs are modified. The tuning and detection should be useful for nanometric resonant devices.

Root-growth mechanism for single-wall carbon nanotubes.

The catalytic growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes is investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The similarities between the samples synthesized from different techniques suggest a common growth mechanism based on a vapor-liquid-solid model. Quantum-molecular-dynamics simulations support a root growth mechanism where carbon atoms are incorporated into the tube base by a diffusion-segregation process.

Hot nanotubes: stable heating of individual multiwall carbon nanotubes to 2000 k induced by the field-emission current.

Field emission (FE) electron spectroscopy from an individual multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) is used to measure quantitatively stable temperatures at the apex, T(A), of up to 2000 K induced by FE currents approximately 1 microA. The high T(A) is due to Joule heating along the length of the MWNT. These measurements also give directly the resistance of the individual MWNT which is shown to decrease with temperature, and explain the phenomenon of FE-induced light emission which was observed simultaneously. The heating permits thermal desorption of the MWNT and, hence, excellent current stability.

Supercurrents through single-walled carbon nanotubes

Proximity-induced superconductivity in single-walled carbon nanotubes below 1 kelvin, both in a single tube 1 nanometer in diameter and in crystalline ropes containing about 100 nanotubes, was observed. The samples were suspended between two superconducting electrodes, permitting structural study in a transmission electron microscope. When the resistance of the nanotube junction is sufficiently low, it becomes superconducting and can carry high supercurrents. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the critical current of such junctions exhibits unusual features related to their strong one-dimensional character.