Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been extensively studied for their electrical and mechanical properties since its discovery. Owing to their minute dimensions, good mechanical, electrical and chemical properties, different groups started to utilize CNTs as nano sensors or actuators for different applications in nanoelectronic or nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS). In order to build practical CNTs based devices, fast and batch techniques to build them have to be developed. To manipulate these nano-sized tubes, atomic force microscopy (AFM) is typically used to manipulate each of them one-by-one. However, this is time-consuming and unrealistic for batch fabrication. In this dissertation, dielectrophoretic manipulation of carbon nanotubes was employed to rapidly and batch fabricate practical nano sensors. The proposed technology will potentially enable fully automated assembly of CNTs based devices. We have also shown that this electrokinetic based manipulation technique is compatible with room-temperature MEMS fabrication processes, and hence, MEMS structures embedded with carbon nanotubes sensing elements can be built. This encapsulation process ensures that the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) elements can be protected from moisture and contaminates in an operational environment, and thus, allows the sensors to be useful for potential applications such as temperature measurement in water, sensing human touch and body temperature, or as ultra-sensitive sensors in manufacturing plants. Different structures of the polymer thin films embedded CNTs sensors were designed and fabricated on silicon and polymer substrates and also integrated to polymer diaphragm and microfluidic channel for micro and nano scale sensing. In this work, CNTs were found as a novel sensing elements for ultra-low-power micro thermal, fluid-flow and piezoresistive pressure sensors---which may serve as alternative sensors for silicon based sensors when bio-compatibility and low-cost applications are required. / Fung Kar Man. / "August 2005." / Adviser: Wen Tung Li. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: B, page: 4058. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-98). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_343649 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Contributors | Fung, Kar Man., Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Automation and Computer-Aided Engineering. |
| Source Sets | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Language | English, Chinese |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, theses |
| Format | electronic resource, microform, microfiche, 1 online resource (xii, 98 p. : ill.) |
| Rights | Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
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