Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

We performed group-theoretical analysis of the symmetry relationships between lattice structures of R, M1, M2, and T phases of vanadium dioxide in the frameworks of the general Ginzburg-Landau phase transition theory. The analysis leads to a conclusion that the competition between the lower-symmetry phases M1, M2, and T in the metal-insulator transition is pure symmetry driven, since all the three phases correspond to different directions of the same multi-component structural order parameter. Therefore, the lower-symmetry phases can be stabilized in respect to each other by small perturbations such as doping or stress.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2010 in Portland, Oregon, USA, August 1 – August 5, 2010.

As the size of integrated circuit elements decreases, the properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) become increasingly attractive for interconnect applications. To be used by industry, full characterization of the electronic properties of CNT aggregates is essential.

Dielectrophoresis from CNTs suspended in liquid has been demonstrated as a simple route to bundles of aligned parallel nanotubes. We describe a method by which circuits including such bundles may be fabricated, and provide some high-frequency measurements of their electrical properties. The contributions of the contacts can be separated from those of the bundle itself.