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Carbon Nanotubes -- tiny tubes about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair -- consist of rolled up sheets of carbon hexagons. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes were discovered in 1991 by Sumio Iijima of NEC. In early 1993, Iijima and Almaden's Don Bethune discovered that transition metals can catalyze the growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes. The precisely-defined structures of the single-walled nanotubes led to an explosion of experimental and theoretical research into their properties and applications. They show great potential for use as minuscule wires or in ultrasmall electronic devices. To build those devices, scientists must be able to manipulate the Nanotubes in a controlled way. IBM researchers using an atomic force microscope (AFM), an instrument whose tip can apply accurately measured forces to atoms and molecules, have recently devised a means of changing a nanotube's position, shape and orientation, as well as cutting it.
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Chip Evolution: IBM Scientists Develop Breakthrough Transistor Technology with Carbon Nanotubes
Yorktown Heights, N.Y., April 27, 2001 ... IBM scientists developed a breakthrough transistor technology that could preview how computer chips can be made smaller and faster than what is currently possible with silicon.
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