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Science 12 May 1995:
Vol. 268. no. 5212, pp. 845 - 847
DOI: 10.1126/science.268.5212.845
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Articles

Aligned Carbon Nanotube Films: Production and Optical and Electronic Properties

Walt A. deHeer 1, W. S. Bacsa 1, A. Châtelain 1, T. Gerfin 2, R. Humphrey-Baker 2, L. Forro 3, and D. Ugarte 4

1 Institute de Physique Experimentale, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, PHB Ecublens, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
2 Institute de Chimie Physique, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, PHB Ecublens, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
3 Institute de Genie Atomique, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, PHB Ecublens, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
4 Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron (CNPq/MCT), Cx. Postal 6192, 13081-970 Campinas SP, Brazil

Carbon nanotube material can now be produced in macroscopic quantities. However, the raw material has a disordered structure, which restricts investigations of both the properties and applications of the nanotubes. A method has been developed to produce thin films of aligned carbon nanotubes. The tubes can be aligned either parallel or perpendicular to the surface, as verified by scanning electron microscopy. The parallel aligned surfaces are birefringent, reflecting differences in the dielectric function along and normal to the tubes. The electrical resistivities are anisotropic as well, being smaller along the tubes than perpendicular to them, because of corresponding differences in the electronic transport properties.

Submitted on December 6, 1994
Accepted on February 21, 1995


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Strong, Transparent, Multifunctional, Carbon Nanotube Sheets.
M. Zhang, S. Fang, A. A. Zakhidov, S. B. Lee, A. E. Aliev, C. D. Williams, K. R. Atkinson, and R. H. Baughman (2005)
Science 309, 1215-1219
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