Optical orientation and shifting of a single multiwalled carbon nanotube

The orientation and shifting of individual carbon nanotubes are extremely important in the assembly of building blocks of nanodevices and in the development of one-dimensional materials for interdisciplinary applications. Here, we report an optical method that is capable of producing the controlled orientation and targeted shifting of single multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using an optical-fiber nanotip. In a demonstration of this technique, a single MWCNT with an outer diameter of 50 nm and a length of 0.9 µm was first trapped by the nanotip using a laser beam with a wavelength of 980 nm and was then oriented and shifted along the nanotip axis as a result of the interaction of the MWCNT with the optical field output by the nanotip. Various optical powers were applied to characterize the orientation and shifting performance. The orientation and shifting of MWCNTs of various sizes were also demonstrated.