We have fabricated n-type carbon nanotube field effect transistors by choosing the contact metal. Single-walled carbon nanotubes were grown directly on a SiO2∕Si substrate by chemical vapor deposition using patterned metal catalysts. Following the nanotube growth, Ca contacts with a small work function were formed by evaporating and lifting off the metal. The devices showed n-type transfer characteristics without any doping into the nanotube channel. In contrast, the devices with Pd contacts showed p-type conduction. These results can be explained by taking into account the work functions of the contact metals.

We have investigated the relation between the conduction property and the work function of the contact metal in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (NTFETs). The conduction type and the drain current are dependent on the work function. In contrast to NTFETs with Ti and Pd contact electrodes, which showed p-type conduction behaviour, devices with Mg contact electrodes showed ambipolar characteristics and most of the devices with Ca contact electrodes showed n-type conduction behaviour. This indicates that the barrier height of the metal/nanotube contact is dependent on the work function of the contact metal, which suggests that the Fermi-level pinning is weak at the interface, in contrast to conventional semiconductors such as Si and GaAs. We have also demonstrated nonlinear rectification current-voltage characteristics in a nanotube quasi-pn diode with no impurity doping, in which different contact metals with different work functions are used for the anode and the cathode.

We have studied the effects of p-type chemical doping with F4TCNQ (tetrafluorotetracyano-p-quinodimethane) in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs). The transmission-line-model technique using multi-probe CNFETs has been employed to investigate the effects of chemical doping on the channel resistance and contact resistance. It has been found that chemical doping is effective in the reduction of the contact resistance as well as the channel resistance. The device performances of top-gate CNFETs such as transconductance, on-resistance, and on/off ratio were improved by the F4TCNQ chemical doping on the access regions.

No abstract

We have investigated the current flow path between the nanotube and the contact electrode in carbon nanotube devices using multiprobe devices. The contact and channel resistances have been evaluated by two methods; transmission-line-model technique and four-probe measurement. By comparing the results, we have found that channel resistance evaluated by the four-probe measurement includes contact resistance. This indicates that the widely used four-probe measurement is not applicable to nanotube devices for the evaluation of channel resistance excluding contact resistance. This finding also implies that electron transport between the nanotube and the contact metal occurs at the edge of the contact electrode.