Fabrication of stable contacts for carbon nanotube using eutectic alloy

Eutectic alloy melts at low temperature. Using a eutectic alloy electrode, we fabricated a rigid and low-resistance contact for carbon nanotube (CNT). After patterning the electrode which consisted of Au and Al film, CNT was laid on the electrode by AC dielectrophoresis. The sample was then annealed at 250°C, which is a melting temperature of Au-Al eutectic alloy, for a few minutes in air. AFM images after annealing showed that the CNT was embedded into the Au-Al electrode as if it was originally made by a top contact process. I-V measurement exhibited that the contact resistance was reduced by more than a factor of 4. The resulting contact was rigid enough to sustain additional semiconductor manufacturing method such as photolithography and lift-off process.