Carbon nanotube electronics

We present experimental results on single-wall carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs) operating at gate and drain voltages below 1 V. Taking into account the extremely small diameter of the semiconducting tubes used as active components, electrical characteristics are comparable with state-of-the-art metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). While output as well as subthreshold characteristics resemble those of conventional MOSFETs, we find that CNFET operation is actually controlled by Schottky barriers (SBs) in the source and drain region instead of by the nanotube itself. Due to the small size of the contact region between the electrode and the nanotube, these barriers can be extremely thin, enabling good performance of SB-CNFETs.