Heterostructures of Carbon Nanotubes and Quantum Dots for Nanoscale Device Applications

C.S. Ozkan
Univeristy of California at Riverside, US

Keywords: self assembly, carbon nanotubes, heterostructures, FTIR

Abstract:
Conventional nanofabrication strategies must be augmented by new techniques including self assembly methods in order to truly take advantage of the quantum nature of novel nanoscale devices and systems and permit the use of these properties for ''real'' applications in a larger system (> 10 nm and < 1 micron). In this talk, I will describe a novel technique for the fabrication of nano-assemblies of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and quantum dots (QD) -formation of CNT-QD conjugates-. CNT's are primarily functionalized with carboxylic end groups by oxidation in concentrated sulfuric acid. Thiol stabilized QD's in aqueous solution with amino end groups were conjugated to carbon nanotubes using the ethylene carbodiimide coupling reaction. Next, I will discuss the possibilities of using carbon nanotubes for encapsulation and mass transport and present our first observations in this area. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy data for the chemical modification of carbon nanotubes and scanning and transmission electron microscopy images of the nanobuilding blocks and the nanotube filling process will be presented. Potential applications of our studies include the fabrication of novel electronic and biophotonic devices, crystal displays and biosensors.

Nanotech 2004 Conference Technical Program Abstract