Novel process flow for the integration of carbon nanotubes into MEMS

We present a process flow and characterization for the growth of freestanding carbon nanotubes on a polysilicon microelectromechanical device. Individual or multiple tubes can be directly grown between movable posts and electrically connected. The process is characterized to the point where minimum feature sizes of catalytic islands are determined as a function of the catalytic solution concentration. We show scanning electron microscopy pictures that validate the direct growth of nanotubes. The reported technology is batch-fabrication compatible as opposed to discrete fabrication processes and is opening the way to the synthesis and evaluation of mechanical nano-scale transducers based on carbon nanotubes.