On The Design And Fabrication Of Nanostructures And Devices

In this dissertation, we design and fabricate nanostructures and devices using novel microfabrication techniques. In the first part of the dissertation, the design and fabrication of a variety of nanostructures, such as metal nanowires array, polymer nanowells, and nanostructured surfaces are discussed. In the second part, carbon nanotubes as a novel material has been explored as an example to demonstrate the integration of nanomaterials with novel microfabrication techniques to form a functional device. First, a resistive heating technique is developed to grow carbon nanotubes in localized regions, such as a nichrome heating coil. Then, MEMS micro-heating structures are designed for patterned carbon nanotubes film growth. At last, a MEMS sensor device using in-situ grown carbon nanotubes film as a sensing element is developed. The sensor shows sensitivity to hydrogen gas down to 100 ppm. A hypothetic model based on contact resistance modulation is presented to explain the observed sensing properties.