TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural changes of electron and ion beam-deposited contacts in annealed carbon-based electrical devices
AU - Batra, Nitin M
AU - Patole, Shashikant P.
AU - Abdelkader, Ahmed
AU - Anjum, Dalaver H.
AU - Deepak, Francis L
AU - Da Costa, Pedro M. F. J.
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
PY - 2015/10/9
Y1 - 2015/10/9
N2 - The use of electron and ion beam deposition to make devices containing discrete nanostructures as interconnectors is a well-known nanofabrication process. Classically, one-dimensional materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been electrically characterized by resorting to these beam deposition methods. While much attention has been given to the interconnectors, less is known about the contacting electrodes (or leads). In particular, the structure and chemistry of the electrode–interconnector interface is a topic that deserves more attention, as it is critical to understand the device behavior. Here, the structure and chemistry of Pt electrodes, deposited either with electron or ion beams and contacted to a CNT, are analyzed before and after thermally annealing the device in a vacuum. Free-standing Pt nanorods, acting as beam-deposited electrode models, are also characterized pre- and post-annealing. Overall, the as-deposited leads contain a non-negligible amount of amorphous carbon that is consolidated, upon heating, as a partially graphitized outer shell enveloping a Pt core. This observation raises pertinent questions regarding the definition of electrode–nanostructure interfaces in electrical devices, in particular long-standing assumptions of metal-CNT contacts fabricated by direct beam deposition methods.
AB - The use of electron and ion beam deposition to make devices containing discrete nanostructures as interconnectors is a well-known nanofabrication process. Classically, one-dimensional materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been electrically characterized by resorting to these beam deposition methods. While much attention has been given to the interconnectors, less is known about the contacting electrodes (or leads). In particular, the structure and chemistry of the electrode–interconnector interface is a topic that deserves more attention, as it is critical to understand the device behavior. Here, the structure and chemistry of Pt electrodes, deposited either with electron or ion beams and contacted to a CNT, are analyzed before and after thermally annealing the device in a vacuum. Free-standing Pt nanorods, acting as beam-deposited electrode models, are also characterized pre- and post-annealing. Overall, the as-deposited leads contain a non-negligible amount of amorphous carbon that is consolidated, upon heating, as a partially graphitized outer shell enveloping a Pt core. This observation raises pertinent questions regarding the definition of electrode–nanostructure interfaces in electrical devices, in particular long-standing assumptions of metal-CNT contacts fabricated by direct beam deposition methods.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/580007
UR - http://stacks.iop.org/0957-4484/26/i=44/a=445301?key=crossref.389acc58e510bbe9744026bdd3303a2e
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84944351109&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/0957-4484/26/44/445301
DO - 10.1088/0957-4484/26/44/445301
M3 - Article
C2 - 26451669
SN - 0957-4484
VL - 26
SP - 445301
JO - Nanotechnology
JF - Nanotechnology
IS - 44
ER -