Bottom-up assembly of nano-carbon devices by dielectrophoresis

In this review, I trace the development of dielectrophoresis (DEP) for\nthe directed assembly of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene. DEP\ninvolves driving a nanoparticle in an alternating current (AC) electric\nfield, whereby the particles migrate towards or away from the direction\nof high-field gradient depending on the relative polarizability of the\nparticle and medium. DEP offers a scalable and controllable route for\nintegration of various kinds of nano-carbon devices, such as\nfield-effect transistors, nano-electromechanical resonators and sensors.\nDEP utilizes nano-carbons in solution phase and is compatible with the\nvarious CNT and graphene sorting methods which have been developed,\nallowing for instance the large-scale integration of single-chirality\nCNTs.\nFalse-colour scanning electron micrograph of an array of semiconducting\nsingle-wall carbon nanotube devices assembled by alternating-current\ndielectrophoresis. (C) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim