Abstract Lithography and lift-off of the catalyst is the established way to pattern forests of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). We demonstrate an alternative technique where we pattern a thin film reservoir residing below the Al2O3 underlayer to partially or fully deactivate the iron catalyst on the surface, thus leading to short CNTs or no CNTs. High-resolution imaging suggests that mass transfer from the Cu or Cu/Ag alloy reservoir to the surface promotes interalloying with the catalyst, which is the mechanism for deactivation. The lower melting temperature of the Cu/Ag alloy is more effective than Cu in inhibiting CNT growth since it becomes partially liquid at the processing temperature, to faster alloy with the iron catalyst. We show how the lithographic patterning at the level of the reservoir translates into lithographic patterning of the CNT forest. This technique, besides avoiding contamination of the catalytic surface, is an important building block towards fabricating patterned forests with areas of different heights where the reservoir material will modulate the CNT height. Additionally, this research opens the door for testing additional materials as reservoirs and to analyze their effects on CNT growth to achieve fine modulation of the third dimension (height) in patterned CNT forests.

中文翻译：

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使用 Cu 和 Cu/Ag 薄膜储层作为生长抑制剂的碳纳米管森林的图案生长

摘要 光刻和催化剂的剥离是碳纳米管 (CNT) 森林图案化的既定方法。我们展示了一种替代技术，其中我们对位于 Al2O3 底层下方的薄膜储层进行图案化，以部分或完全停用表面上的铁催化剂，从而导致短 CNT 或没有 CNT。高分辨率成像表明，从 Cu 或 Cu/Ag 合金储层到表面的质量转移促进了与催化剂的互合金，这是失活的机制。Cu/Ag 合金的较低熔化温度在抑制 CNT 生长方面比 Cu 更有效，因为它在加工温度下变成部分液体，以更快地与铁催化剂合金化。我们展示了水库水平的光刻图案如何转化为 CNT 森林的光刻图案。该技术除了避免催化表面的污染外，还是制造具有不同高度区域的图案森林的重要组成部分，其中储层材料将调节 CNT 高度。此外，这项研究为测试其他材料作为储层打开了大门，并分析了它们对 CNT 生长的影响，以在图案化的 CNT 森林中实现三维（高度）的精细调制。