Bonding of carbon nanotubes onto microelectrodes by localized induction heating

Bonding of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto metallic electrodes is achieved by localized induction heating. The contact bonding is formed by inductive heating the electrodes with radio frequency magnetic field. The contact resistance can be reduced by approximate 90% and the reduction is irreversible. It is demonstrated that the induction heating will selectively occur on the structures with high electronic conductivity and relative permeability, which can be utilized to realize large scale non-contact localized heating. In addition, the atomistic study indicates that the surface charges induced by induction eddy current can improve the wetting properties between the metal atoms and CNT surface. This behavior provides more material choices for metallic electrodes rather than using metals with excellent wetting properties to the carbon nanotube.