Short-channel transistors constructed with solution-processed carbon nanotubes

We develop short-channel transistors using solution-processed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) to evaluate the feasibility of those SWNTs for high-performance applications. Our results show that even though the intrinsic field-effect mobility is lower than the mobility of CVD nanotubes, the electrical contact between the nanotube and metal electrodes is not significantly affected. It is this contact resistance which often limits the performance of ultrascaled transistors. Moreover, we found that the contact resistance is lowered by the introduction of oxygen treatment. Therefore, high-performance solution-processed nanotube transistors with a 15 nm channel length were obtained by combining a top-gate structure and gate insulators made of a high-dielectric-constant ZrO₂ film. The combination of these elements yields a performance comparable to that obtained with CVD nanotube transistors, which indicates the potential for using solution-processed SWNTs for future aggressively scaled transistor technology.