You can quickly tell the chirality of a carbon nanotube with an electrical measurement.  No messy preparation and imaging with a scanning electron microscope.  Who has the time to do that?  Simply connect up a semiconductor analyzer, vary the voltage and watch the resulting current.  The IV curve of a semiconductor nanotube will look like a transistor while the IV curve of a superconductor nanotube will look like a resistor.

The real key to these measurements is a stable low-voltage and low-current measurement capability.   Typically this means measurement resolutions of < 1 fA and voltage resolution of 0.5 uV.  Professor K. Matsumoto of Osaka University has used Agilent’s semiconductor parameter analyzer with success to check chirality.   Learn more about this measurement by reading Application Note B1500-1 found at http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5989-2842EN.pdf

What other measurements are you making on carbon nanotubes?

Welcome to the Agilent Nanotechnology WebLog. As the premier measurement company we feel it is important for us to start the dialogue around measurements being made in nanotechnology research. We use the word “measurements” in a broad sense to include the imaging, manipulation and characterization of nanoscale devices and structures with microscopy products. We include the sensing and sourcing of electrical signals to characterize nanoscale devices. And we include the chemical and biological analysis of molecules and compounds at the nanoscale. All measurements are fair game – shape, size, hardness, conductance, capacitance, current flow, voltage, chemical make-up, bioanalysis, fluorescence, etc. It’s your choice what we talk about.

It’s an exciting time to be on the leading edge. In basic research you collaborate on projects. You learn together, you share expertise, and you succeed as a team. Why not take this same approach on the measurement side? That’s the focus of this blog – the measurements (in the broad sense) that you need in your nanotechnology projects. It’s the measurements that lead to breakthroughs in nanotechnology which I hope will make a better life for us and our children.

This blog is about measurements made with any instrument. It’s about learning from each other what works and what doesn’t. It’s about success—finding ways to successfully complete nanotechnology projects, whether that be in basic research or the engineering of products for the market. Other web sites and blogs will provide us with information on breakthroughs in nanotechnology research – this blog is all about the nuts and bolts of the measurements that lead to the breakthrough. It’s the HOW and not the WHAT.

I encourage you to sign up, learn from others, and participate by sharing your experience.

Grant Drenkow
Agilent Nanotechnology Program Manager
Grant_drenkow@agilent.com