Fabrication and characterization of the performance of multi-channel carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors

A multi-channel carbon-nanotube field-effect transistor (CNTFET) with directed, controllable number of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) channels has been successfully fabricated by combining electric-field assisted alignment technique with atomic force microscopy (AFM) manipulation technology. Compared with the single-channel CNTFET, not only the ON current, transconductance and switch performance of this CNTFET are effectively improved but also the reliability and yield of the device are also enhanced with the multi-channel device structure. The transconductance of multi-channel CNTFETs has also been demonstrated to take on an approximately direct dependency on the SWCNT channel number. These merits make the multi-channel CNTFET promising to be applied in the domain of future nanoelectronic integrated circuits.