Carbon nanotubes' unique electronic properties make them promising as, among other things, ultra-efficient "electron emitters" for bright, low-power displays. Now, researchers have found a way to pattern nanotubes onto plastic sheets for flexible displays.

The new method, developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Northeastern University, and New Mexico State University, starts with a surface prepatterned to specify where multiwalled nanotubes will grow on it. The researchers pour a liquid over the nanotubes and cook it until it forms a polymer. They then peel off the polymer and nanotubes. The polymer preserves the pattern right down to the positions of indi-vidual nanotubes, which it keeps aligned.