Improved fabrication approach for carbon nanotube probe devices

An improved process is developed for simple and efficient fabrication of carbon nanotube probe devices. This process requires only two steps to make nanotube probes. First a nanotube cartridge is created using chemical vapor deposition, then the nanotubes are transferred from the cartridge to a device using an electric field. Multiwall nanotube probes are made into different device geometries in this approach. Their applications are illustrated by atomic force microscopy imaging of the surface of a terrestrial rock granule selected to simulate the morphology and consistency of a grain of Mars dust and nanolithography on a silicon substrate. [S0003-6951(00)04347-3].