Flexible electrical probes made of carbon nanotube bundles

Carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles are extracted from vertically aligned CNT array by tungsten probes and attached on the tips of these tungsten probes strongly by van der waals forces, forming flexible microprobes, with tip radii varying from 100 nm to 1 μm. The geometries and electrical properties of these original probes are adjusted by laser beam irradiation, electric current application, and alcohol treatment. The resistance measurement of a carbon nanocoil using bundled CNT probes as sensing probes by four-probe method demonstrates great advantages of bundled CNT probes in measuring the system with continuous deformation varying with time. Verification for the flexibility of bundled CNT probes with ultrathin carbon film shows the great application potential in non-destructive testing. This research demonstrates the potential application of bundled CNT as flexible microprobes.