Tailoring material properties for 3D microfabrication: In-situ experimentation and multi-scale modelling

Vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays (CNTs) are a nanoscale material that can be grown from the bottom up in a fast and controlled manner to form large microstructures. Combined with thin conformal coatings, we gain accurate control over the material properties of nano-porous CNT arrays. This paper deals with three topics involving nanoscale materials for microfabrication; (1) microfabrication steps for 3D micro-structures using CNTs arrays and thin conformal coatings, (2) the (in-situ) experimental characterization of the material and (3) a multi-scale modelling approach for analysing the mechanical material properties of CNT pillars.