基于扫描电子显微镜的碳纳米管拾取操作方法研究

碳纳米管场效应管是未来纳米器件的发展方向,而制造纳米器件的前提是拾取碳纳米管,基于扫描电子显微镜(SEM)的微纳机器人操作系统能够实现碳纳米管拾取操作.本文建立拾取操作中碳纳米管与原子力显微镜(AFM)探针间范德瓦耳斯力力学模型,不同接触状态下范德瓦耳斯力越大越有利于拾取碳纳米管.在SEM视觉反馈图像中建立相对坐标系,首先提出倾角变值方法检测碳纳米管与AFM探针的接触状态,然后运用动态差值方法识别碳纳米管与AFM探针空间位姿并校正碳纳米管位姿,最后自下而上拾取碳纳米管.实验结果表明:拟合直线倾角变值较大时碳纳米管与AFM探针发生接触,动态差值变化为零时碳纳米管与AFM探针为空间线接触,在完全线接触模型下选择合适的接触角度、接触长度和拾取速度能够成功拾取碳纳米管.     

Adsorption of bovine serum albumin on amorphous carbon surfaces studied with dip pen nanolithography

This article reports the use of dip pen nanolithography (DPN) for the study of adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) proteins on amorphous carbon surfaces; tetrahedral amorphous carbon (t-aC) and silicon doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H:Si). Contact angle study shows that the BSA proteins reduce the contact angle on both carbon materials. We also noticed that the drop volume dependence is consistent with a negative line tension, i.e. due to an attractive protein/surface interaction. The DPN technique was used to write short-spaced (100 nm) BSA line patterns on both samples. We found a line merging effect, stronger in the case of the a-C:H:Si material. We discuss possible contributions from tip blunting, scratching, cross-talk between lever torsion and bending and nano-shaving of the patterns. We conclude that the observed effect is caused in large measure by the diffusion of BSA proteins on the amorphous carbon surfaces. This interpretation of the result is consistent with the contact angle data and AFM force curve analysis indicating larger tip/surface adhesion and spreading for the a-C:H:Si material. We conclude by discussing the advantages and limitations of DPN lithography to study biomolecular adsorption in nanoscale wetting environments.     

Vibrations of sessile drops

This study focuses on the effects of vertical vibrations on sessile drops deposited on hydrophobic substrates. At low amplitudes the contact line remains pinned because of contact angle hysteresis and only drop surface modes areobserved. Above a first threshold the contact line starts to move and exhibits a stick-slip behavior that presents some analogies with the solid friction on amechanical oscillator. At larger amplitudes, non-axisymmetric contour modes show up (modes m=2, 3...). They can be interpreted as a coupling between surface modes and contact line motion. These subharmonic modes are welldescribed within the framework of parametric oscillators. We also discuss here why vibrations can help to measure equilibrium contact angle.     

微液滴在超疏水表面的受迫振动及其接触线的固着-移动转变

利用高速摄影技术对超疏水表面液滴振动的动态行为进行观测,研究液滴在不同频率下的振动特性. 实验发现,液滴的共振频率满足Rayleigh方程,微液滴在超疏水表面具有自由液滴的振动性质. 在80–200 Hz的驱动频率范围内,接触线出现了明显的固着-移动现象,液滴的振动频率是驱动频率的一半,液滴振动时的形变较大. 当驱动频率大于200 Hz时,接触线基本固着,液滴的振动频率近似等于驱动频率,液滴共振时的形态边缘始终有节点存在. 分析表明,液滴对外界驱动的不同响应与接触线的振荡行为和变形程度密切相关 关键词： 超疏水表面 受迫振动 共振 接触线     

多壁碳纳米管弯曲导致的扭转

文章介绍了多壁碳纳米管弯曲的分子动力学模拟,从原子尺度上解释了由于屈曲失稳而导致的起皱现象,并发现多壁碳纳米管弯曲时会呈现出非线性的力学响应。同时,在模拟过程中,观察到了弯曲诱发扭转的现象,并揭示出扭转变形的内在起因是曲率诱导的晶格错配。     

13C NMR chemical shift of single-wall carbon nanotubes

We compute the magnetic shielding tensor within the London approximation and estimate the Knight shift of single-wall carbon nanotubes. Our results indicate that high resolution 13C NMR should be able to separate the metallic and insulator character of the nanotubes since a 11 ppm splitting is predicted from the respective resonances. As a model for disorder, bending, and defects in these structures, we investigate the magnetic response of nanotubes with finite size. We get a small line broadening coming from an intrinsic length dependent resonance effect. The nanotube packing is also studied and leads to a 20 ppm broadening which disappears under experimental high-resolution conditions.     

Experimental investigation of liquid drop evaporation on a heated solid surface

Evaporation of a water drop was studied experimentally at a temperature difference between the solid surface and surrounding atmosphere from 30 to 60 °C. The studies were performed on the substrates with micro- and nanocoatings with different wettability. The features of evaporation were studied for the pinned, partially pinned, and depinned three-phase contact line (solid-liquid?gas interface). It is shown that with a decrease in the water drop volume, the specific evaporation rate (mass flow per unit of surface area) increases, particularly at the last stage of evaporation.     

Coupling between precipitation and contact-line dynamics: multiring stains and stick-slip motion

The contact line in an evaporating drop can stay pinned to form a single ring or can shrink in a discontinuous stepwise manner and generate multiple rings. We demonstrate the latter with DNA solutions and attribute it to a pinning-depinning cycle that generates new contact lines. The new contact line recedes after depinning and is repinned at an internal precipitate ring that determines the location of the next contact line. Each precursor ring is formed when DNAs are trapped by an internal microstagnation flow and precipitation dynamics hence control this unsteady drop motion.     

The Influence of Boundary Conditions on Solid-on-Solid Models

We investigate various 1D solid-on-solid (SOS) models using the transfer matrix method. The main results of the paper concern SOS interfaces near an attracting wall (line) when the end points of the interface are fixed away from the wall (line). We obtain typical interface shapes in the macroscopic scale. If attraction of the wall is strong enough, then a part of the interface is pinned to the wall (line) and the remaining parts of the interface form angles with the wall (line)—the contact angles. Explicit expressions for the contact angles are derived. We show also that for a certain range of parameters the models exhibit reentrant wetting and drying. As a result the free energy of the SOS model as a function of temperature can have up to three points of nonanalyticity. The fluctuations of the SOS interface are investigated in detail. Quite unusual fluctuations are observed at the contact points—the points where unpinned and pinned parts of the interface meet.     

A review of recent theoretical and computational studies on pinned surface nanobubbles

The observations of long-lived surface nanobubbles in various experiments have presented a theoretical challenge, as they were supposed to be dissolved in microseconds owing to the high Laplace pressure. However, an increasing number of studies suggest that contact line pinning, together with certain levels of oversaturation, is responsible for the anomalous stability of surface nanobubbles. This mechanism can interpret most characteristics of surface nanobubbles. Here, we summarize recent theoretical and computational work to explain how the surface nanobubbles become stable with contact line pinning. Other related work devoted to understanding the unusual behaviors of pinned surface nanobubbles is also reviewed here.     

Field electron emission images of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Field electron emission microscope images from multi-walled carbon nanotubes can typically be characterized by the presence of five pentagons surrounding a sixth central pentagon. The observations of bright line centered interference patterns between adjacent pentagons in the field electron emission microscope images of multi-walled carbon nanotubes have been reported in the literature. We have observed a shift from bright to dark line centered interference patterns and associated this with the presence of surface adsorption. In order to identify the origin of the contaminant, multi-walled carbon nanotubes were dosed with H₂, H₂O, CO and O₂ and then imaged in the field electron emission microscope. Only the samples exposed to O₂ showed a shift from a bright line centered pattern between adjacent pentagons of a clean surface to a dark line centered pattern when one pentagon was contaminated or a bright line centered pattern when both adjacent pentagons become contaminated. The results of the experimental studies and the modeling of the changes in the field emission pattern as phase shifts in the wave function of the tunneling electrons due to modifications in the surface work function are presented.     

Nanotube phonon waveguide

We find that the high thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes remains intact under severe structural deformations while the corresponding electrical resistance and thermoelectric power show compromised responses. Similar robust thermal transport against bending is found for boron nitride nanotubes. Surprisingly, for both systems the phonon mean free path exceeds the characteristic length of structural ripples induced by bending and approaches the theoretical limit set by the radius of curvature. The robustness of heat conduction in nanotubes refines the ultimate limit that is far beyond the reach of ordinary materials.     

One-dimensional and two-dimensional quantum systems on carbon nanotube bundles

We report the first measurement of the structure of 4He atoms adsorbed on bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Neutron diffraction techniques and nanotube samples closed at the end were used. At low coverage, 4He forms a 1D, single line lattice along the grooves between two nanotubes on the surface of the nanotube bundles. As coverage is increased, additional lines of 1D lattices form along the grooves. This is followed by an incommensurate, 2D monolayer covering the whole nanotube bundle surface. The lattice constants of these 1D and 2D systems are largely independent of filling once a single 1D line is formed. No occupation of the interstitial channels between nanotubes is observed in the present sample.     

Surface exciton-plasmons and optical response of small-diameter carbon nanotubes

We study theoretically the interactions of excitonic states with surface electromagnetic modes of small-diameter (≲1 nm) semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. We show that these interactions can result in strong exciton-surface-plasmon coupling. The exciton absorption lineshape exhibits the line (Rabi) splitting ∼0.1–0.3 eV as the exciton energy is tuned to the nearest interband surface plasmon resonance of the nanotube so that the mixed strongly coupled surface plasmon-exciton excitations are formed. We discuss possible ways to bring the exciton in resonance with the surface plasmon. The exciton-plasmon Rabi splitting effect we predict here for an individual carbon nanotube is close in its magnitude to that previously reported for hybrid plasmonic nanostructures artificially fabricated of organic semiconductors deposited on metallic films. We expect this effect to open up paths to new tunable optoelectronic device applications of semiconducting carbon nanotubes.     

The constancy of the contact angle in viscous liquid motions with pinned contact lines

Consider motion initiated in a viscous liquid in a smooth walled container. The liquid is initially at rest under uniform pressure from an inert gas of negligible inertia. We show that if the contact line is pinned and the interface is single valued, the contact angle has to remain constant throughout the motion. This is true even for motions of finite amplitude. Some implications of the result are discussed.     

Role of fermi-level pinning in nanotube schottky diodes

At semiconductor-metal junctions, the Schottky barrier height is generally fixed by "Fermi-level pinning." We find that when a semiconducting carbon nanotube is end contacted to a metal (the optimal geometry for nanodevices), the behavior is radically different. Even when the Fermi level is fully "pinned" at the interface, the turn-on voltage is that expected for an unpinned junction. Thus the threshold may be adjusted for optimal device performance, which is not possible in planar contacts. Similar behavior is expected at heterojunctions between nanotubes and semiconductors.     

First-principles calculations of contact effect on quantum transport in carbon nanotubes

We report first-principles calculations of conductance of carbon nanotubes between metallic electrodes. The electronic states are calculated using a numerical atomic orbital basis set in the framework of the density functional theory, and the conductance is calculated using the Green's function method. We show transmission spectra of carbon nanotubes connected to electrodes and reveal the contact effect of electrodes on the transport properties of nanotubes.     

溶液液滴蒸发变干的环状沉积

液体蒸发驱动的颗粒自组装现象在许多的工业技术中有重要应用. 本文利用显微镜观测含有颗粒物质的液滴变干后留在固体表面的颗粒形成的环状沉积图案. 采用微米粒径的SiO₂小球水溶液液滴蒸发变干模拟咖啡环的形成过程, 结果发现液滴蒸发过程中接触线的钉扎是环状沉积的必要条件. 在液滴蒸发过程中颗粒随着补偿流不断的向液滴边缘移动, 聚集在接触线处形成环. 液滴蒸发变干后残留在液滴内部的颗粒数随颗粒质量分数的增加而增加, 可以达到单层的颗粒排列. 而玻璃衬底上的颗粒环在颗粒质量分数很小时, 形成单层排列, 且一排一排地生长. 蒸发过程中颗粒环由于液滴边缘的尺寸限制向液滴中心缓慢移动. 这会导致液滴中不同大小颗粒的分离. 关键词： 液滴 接触线 蒸发 颗粒     

Investigating interfacial contact configuration and behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube-based nanodevice with atomistic simulations

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), including single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), are considered to be the promising candidates for next-generation interconnects with excellent physical and chemical properties ranging from ultrahigh mechanical strength, to electrical properties, to thermal conductivity, to optical properties, etc. To further study the interfacial contact configurations of SWNT-based nanodevice with a 13.56-Å diameter, the corresponding simulations are carried out with the molecular dynamic method. The nanotube collapses dramatically into the surface with the complete collapse on the Au/Ag/graphite electrode surface and slight distortion on the Si/SiO₂ substrate surface, respectively. The related dominant mechanism is studied and explained. Meanwhile, the interfacial contact configuration and behavior, depended on other factors, are also analyzed in this article.     

Drying and advancing droplets of polymer solutions

In this paper, we report on the competition between evaporation and hydrodynamics for advancing drops of polymer solutions. We thus study advancing drops which are allowed to evaporate. Drying drives the accumulation of polymer at the contact line, whereas the advancing motion tends to homogenize the drop. At high velocity, we experimentally verify classical hydrodynamics predictions. At intermediate velocities, drying dominates and the contact line becomes more viscous than the bulk droplet. In the limiting case of very low velocities, the contact line can be partially pinned on the substrate because of the formation of a glassy defect at the contact line.