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Facile fabrication of all-SWNT field-effect transistors

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Abstract

Field-effect transistors (FETs) have been fabricated using as-grown single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) for the channel as well as both source and drain electrodes. The underlying Si substrate was employed as the back-gate electrode. Fabrication consisted of patterned catalyst deposition by surface modification followed by dip-coating and synthesis of SWNTs by alcohol chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The electrodes and channel were grown simultaneously in one CVD process. The resulting FETs exhibited excellent performance, with an I ON/I OFF ratio of 106 and a maximum ON-state current (I ON) exceeding 13 μA. The large I ON is attributed to SWNT bundles connecting the SWNT channel with the SWNT electrodes. Bundling creates a large contact area, which results in a small contact resistance despite the presence of Schottky barriers at metallic-semiconducting interfaces. The approach described here demonstrates a significant step toward the realization of metal-free electronics.

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Author notes

  1. Rong Xiang

    Present address: HKUST-SYSU Joint Laboratory of Nano Materials and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Shinya Aikawa, Rong Xiang, Erik Einarsson, Shohei Chiashi, Junichiro Shiomi & Shigeo Maruyama

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8601, Japan

    Shinya Aikawa & Eiichi Nishikawa

  3. Global Center of Excellence for Mechanical Systems Innovation, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Erik Einarsson

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  1. Shinya Aikawa
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Correspondence to Shigeo Maruyama.

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Aikawa, S., Xiang, R., Einarsson, E. et al. Facile fabrication of all-SWNT field-effect transistors. Nano Res. 4, 580–588 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-011-0114-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-011-0114-0

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