But manipulating carbon nanotubes can be tricky, considering that their diameter is about 50,000 times smaller than a human hair. Researchers at Purdue University have just come up with a way to get carbon nanotubes to get in line – literally – by using electrical pulses and a vortex created by laser light.

The method they used to manipulate the tubes consists of two stages. In the first, a technique called rapid electrokinetic patterning causes the nanotubes to orient vertically. This process consists of two electrodes, each made from a transparent conductive material called indium tin oxide, with nanotubes suspended in deionized water between them. When an electrical field is applied to the setup, the nanotubes all stand on end inside the water. By applying different current strengths to the liquids, the researchers were able to tune how many tubes were affected.