Patent ID: 7767270

Claim:
A method for functionalizing a collection of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the method comprising: irradiating a precursor gas to provide selected first target particles that contain N in a first chamber having a first selected sub-Torr chamber pressure p 1 ; providing a collection of first target CNTs on a substrate in a second chamber having a second selected sub-Torr pressure p 2 , where p 2 is not more than about 0.01·p 1 ; providing a particle communication mechanism that allows transport of at least a portion of the first target particles from the first chamber to the second chamber; allowing at least one first target particle to react with and become chemically attached to at least one first target CNT in the second chamber; and choosing a distance of transport d, of the at least one first target particle that is irradiated in the first chamber to at least one first target CNT in the second chamber, to lie in a first transport distance range, d<d 1 , where d 1 is selected to increase a likelihood that the reaction product of the at least one first target particle and the at least one first target CNT will be one of a group of one or more target reaction products that differs from the first target CNT.