Mechanical characterization of individual polycrystalline carbon tubes for use in electrical nano-interconnects

Graphical abstractDisplay Omitted Highlights¿ Polycrystalline carbon tubes growth by CVD without catalyst. ¿ Measurement of mechanical properties of the obtained specific CNT structure. ¿ Electrostatic pull-in measurement. ¿ SEM and STM characterizations. Polycrystalline carbon tubes were generated by CVD inside electrochemically prepared nano-porous anodic aluminium oxide membranes. This method produced nano-tubes without catalyst, featuring polycrystalline and a few layer thick walls. Individual tubes could be isolated and suspended on microfabricated substrates such that they formed single-side clamped beams. These beams were then used to investigate their mechanical properties employing electrostatic forces for bending the tubes beyond their mechanical stability where pull-in occurs, which could be detected by monitoring the current flowing from the tube to the substrate.