RAslan A., Basrour S., Le Poche H.
CEA-LETI,Minatec, FR
Keywords: carbon nanotubes, CNT rope, NEMS, switch, tweezers
The aim of this work is to design and fabricate electromechanical tweezers based on CNT ropes. The electromechanical behaviour of such ropes has been studied. The average of Young’s modulus of the rope has been calculated assuming homogenisation model. The moment of inertia of the rope has been also calculated thanks to Huygens theorem and one analytical formula has been developed. These values have been introduced in analytical existing models in order to calculate the pull-in voltage of CNT ropes tweezers. These devices have been designed and fabricated. The experimental pull-in voltage measured on a first prototype was about 20 V for a gap of 5 µm and ropes of 35 µm in length and 3 µm in diameter composed by CNTs of 5 nm in diameter. In the final paper, the experimental values will be compared to the calculated one from the analytical models and the influence of the Young’s modulus will be discussed as well as the dimensions of the device.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2009: Biofuels, Renewable Energy, Coatings, Fluidics and Compact Modeling
Published: May 3, 2009
Pages: 425 - 428
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topic: Carbon Nano Structures & Devices
ISBN: 978-1-4398-1784-1