Electrostatic displacement of multiwalled carbon nanotubes by scanning a voltage-applied tip of an atomic force microscope

¹ Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, PO Box 102, Yuseong, Daejeon, 305-600, Korea
² Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yuseong, Daejeon, 305-701, Korea

Corresponding author: dalkim@kriss.re.kr

Received: 12 January 2004
Revised: 2 July 2004
Accepted: 4 August 2004
Published online: 23 November 2004

Abstract

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were displaced on low-friction graphite surfaces in an easily controlled fashion by moving a voltage-applied tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) across them. MWNTs on Si (5 5 12) surfaces were not displaced using the same electrostatic parameters. The friction at a Si (5 5 12) surface was measured to be 29 times larger than that of a graphite surface. We found that the electrostatic force applied to the MWNT was larger than the frictional force between the MWNT and the graphite surface, but much smaller than the frictional force on the Si (5 5 12) surface, allowing us to conclude that the electrostatic force may be responsible for the displacement of the MWNT on the graphite surface.