CNTCONTACT

Doped semiconductor contacts for low resistance contacts to carbon nanotubes

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are attracting an immense research effort due to their remarkable electronic properties. The ability to integrate CNTs into applications such as sensors and low power transistors will allow the technology to fully benefit from these structures. The advantages CNTs offer include high sensitivity, very low power requirements, and the ability to use nanometer scale components. Key issues remain before the full potential of CNTs can be exploited: Low resistivity contacts must become available, CNTs must interface with high-k dielectrics, and we must understand their transport properties thoroughly. This project will address all three of these challenges. Further challenges related to growth and processing control are addressed by numerous researchers in the field.

The primary goal of this project is to establish effective contacts to semiconducting CNTs. Interfacing CNTs with doped semiconductors such as Al:ZnO is proposed. An important side goal of the project is to develop a self consistent physical model to explain charge transport in CNTs, and to account for defects, transport barriers, and nonidealities at the CNT/contact interface. Such a model is also useful in calculating detailed band diagrams of the structures under study, which will help advanced device design.

The doped semiconductor, Al:ZnO, will be deposited on top of CNTs using atomic layer deposition. This method offers a high level of conformal coating, and it is expected to yield low defect density conducting films. Detailed structural and electrical characerization using CNT field effect transistors as prototype devices will be carried out, providing data on the effects of pre- and post-deposition processing. Transport characteristics will be extracted from the characterization, and will be used in future iterations of the contacts. Low contact resistance and a thorough understanding of the transport properties are the expected outcomes of the project.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Tiny tubes of carbon show great promise for miniature electronics but few commercial applications exist today. Now, chip-level production of transistor building blocks exploiting them and an associated evaluation platform could spur rapid new product development.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are miniature cylindrical structures made entirely of one-atom-thick sheets of carbon. After more than a decade of research, they have recently found their way into commercial products, primarily as structural reinforcements thanks to their outstanding strength.

Their amazing and unique electrical properties have also made them the focus of intense research in nanoelectronics. However, exploitation requires precise knowledge and control of those properties. EU-funded scientists working on the project 'Doped semiconductor contacts for low resistance contacts to carbon nanotubes' (CNTCONTACT) addressed several important issues through development of building blocks for CNT field-effect transistors.

Researchers successfully addressed a key challenge to obtaining pristine CNTs at the end of processing. CNT exposure to harsh treatments and chemicals during transistor fabrication was avoided by growing CNTs at the last step unlike conventional process flows.

CNTs were coated with an ultrathin insulator as a protective layer to maintain CNTs defect free during further processing. In addition, scientists delivered an evaluation platform to assess post-processing and coating. Scientists demonstrated the capability for batch fabrication of up to a hundred transistor-like structures at the chip level. Wafer-level processing could yield thousands of transistors per run.

CNTCONTACT created and demonstrated a process that delivers ultra-clean CNT transistor structures and technology to determine effects of processing on CNT structural and electrical properties. Application of these processes and tools are expected to provide major impetus to the rapid knowledge-based development and commercialisation of CNT-based electronics.