skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: High-Frequency Performance of Submicrometer Transistors That Use Aligned Arrays of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Journal Article · · Nano Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/nl9001074· OSTI ID:1875464
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems, Linthicum, MD (United States); Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA (United States)

The unique electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) make them promising candidates for next generation electronics, particularly in systems that demand high frequency (e.g., radio frequency, RF) operation. Transistors that incorporate perfectly aligned, parallel arrays of SWNTs avoid the practical limitations of devices that use individual tubes, and they also enable comprehensive experimental and theoretical evaluation of the intrinsic properties. Thus, devices consisting of arrays represent a practical route to use of SWNTs for RF devices and circuits. The results presented here reveal many aspects of device operation in such array layouts, including full compatibility with conventional small signal models of RF response. Submicrometer channel length devices show unity current gain (ft) and unity power gain frequencies (fmax) as high as ~5 and ~9 GHz, respectively, with measured scattering parameters (S-parameters) that agree quantitatively with calculation. The small signal models of the devices provide the essential intrinsic parameters: saturation velocities of 1.2 × 107 cm/s and intrinsic values of ft of ~30 GHz for a gate length of 700 nm, increasing with decreasing length. Here, the results provide clear insights into the challenges and opportunities of SWNT arrays for applications in RF electronics.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-07ER46471; FG02-07ER46453; NIRT-0403489
OSTI ID:
1875464
Journal Information:
Nano Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 5; ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (25)

Radio frequency analog electronics based on carbon nanotube transistors journal January 2008
Intrinsic current gain cutoff frequency of 30GHz with carbon nanotube transistors journal June 2007
Physical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes book January 1998
Mixing at 50GHz using a single-walled carbon nanotube transistor journal October 2005
Spatially Selective Guided Growth of High-Coverage Arrays and Random Networks of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Their Integration into Electronic Devices journal April 2006
A 500 MHz carbon nanotube transistor oscillator journal September 2008
Benchmarking Nanotechnology for High-Performance and Low-Power Logic Transistor Applications journal March 2005
Ultrahigh Frequency Carbon Nanotube Transistor Based on a Single Nanotube journal July 2007
Improved Synthesis of Aligned Arrays of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Their Implementation in Thin Film Type Transistors journal December 2007
Gigahertz frequency flexible carbon nanotube transistors journal October 2007
AC performance of nanoelectronics: towards a ballistic THz nanotube transistor journal October 2004
Single Carbon Nanotube Transistor at GHz Frequency journal January 2008
Assessment of High-Frequency Performance Potential of Carbon Nanotube Transistors journal November 2005
Fabrication and electrical characterization of top gate single-wall carbon nanotube field-effect transistors
  • Wind, S. J.; Appenzeller, J.; Martel, R.
  • Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures, Vol. 20, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1521731
journal January 2002
Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Transport through Large Scale, Partially Aligned Arrays of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in Thin Film Type Transistors journal May 2007
Measurement of the quantum capacitance of interacting electrons in carbon nanotubes journal September 2006
Inherent linearity in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors journal July 2007
Electric-Field-Dependent Charge-Carrier Velocity in Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes journal November 2005
High-performance electronics using dense, perfectly aligned arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes journal March 2007
An Integrated Logic Circuit Assembled on a Single Carbon Nanotube journal March 2006
Guided Growth of Large-Scale, Horizontally Aligned Arrays of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Their Use in Thin-Film Transistors journal August 2005
Microelectronic Devices book October 1997
Terahertz time-domain measurement of ballistic electron resonance in a single-walled carbon nanotube journal March 2008
An 8-GHz f/sub t/ carbon nanotube field-effect transistor for gigahertz range applications journal August 2006
Frequency dependent characterization of transport properties in carbon nanotube transistors journal March 2004

Cited By (14)

Review of Electronics Based on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes journal August 2017
High-Performance Partially Aligned Semiconductive Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Transistors Achieved with a Parallel Technique journal February 2013
Wafer-scalable, aligned carbon nanotube transistors operating at frequencies of over 100 GHz journal November 2019
Directed and On-Demand Alignment of Carbon Nanotube: A Review toward 3D Printing of Electronics journal January 2019
Aligned, Ultralong Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: From Synthesis, Sorting, to Electronic Devices journal March 2010
Tailored Assembly of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene journal March 2011
Terahertz Science and Technology of Carbon Nanomaterials text January 2013
A review of fabrication and applications of carbon nanotube film-based flexible electronics journal January 2013
A Review of Carbon Nanotube Ensembles as Flexible Electronics and Advanced Packaging Materials journal June 2011
CVD-Grown Horizontally Aligned Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis Routes and Growth Mechanisms journal May 2012
Aligned carbon nanotubes: from controlled synthesis to electronic applications journal January 2013
Nanotube electronics for radiofrequency applications journal November 2009
Review of carbon nanotube nanoelectronics and macroelectronics journal May 2014
Optoelectronic Properties of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes journal August 2012