Development of an automated microinjection system for rapid fabrication of carbon nanotube sensors

A novel automated Carbon Nanotube (CNT) microinjection system for batch fabrication of a bulk multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) based MEMS sensor is under development and described in this paper. The system will eventually combine a micro-robotic station for microinjection with AC electrophoretic manipulation of nano-wire bundles to produce nano-wire sensors with much more efficiency in cost and time than currently available fabrication methods. We have already proved that CNTs can be repeatably manipulated between micro-fabricated electrodes using dielectrophoretic manipulation, and demonstrated devices which can serve as novel thermal sensors with low power consumption (∼ μW) and fast frequency response (∼ 100kHz). Our current focus is the develop a feasible batch manufacturable method for functional CNT sensors using an automated microinjection system. The technique of dielectrophoretic manipulation and the design of the microinjection system are presented in this paper