Properties and applications of high-mobility semiconducting nanotubes

• Published in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter Vol. 16; no. 18; pp. R553 - R580
• Main Authors: Dürkop, T, Kim, B M, Fuhrer, M S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 12.05.2004; Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic transport in multilayers, nanoscale materials and structures; Exact sciences and technology; Nanotubes; Physics; CVD; Electrical conductivity; Semiconductor materials; Mean free path; Carbon nanotubes; Pulsed laser deposition; Experimental study; Carrier mobility
• ISSN: 0953-8984; 1361-648X
• DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/16/18/R01

Experiments to determine the resistivity and charge-carrier mobility in semiconducting carbon nanotubes are reviewed. Electron transport experiments on long chemical-vapour-deposition-grown semiconducting carbon nanotubes are interpreted in terms of diffusive transport in a field-effect transistor. This allows for extraction of the field-effect and saturation mobilities for hole carriers, as well as an estimate of the intrinsic hole mobility of the nanotubes. The intrinsic mobility can exceed 100000 cm2 V-1 s-1 at room temperature, which is greater than any other known semiconductor. Scanned-probe experiments show a low degree of disorder in chemicalvapour-deposition-grown semiconducting carbon nanotubes compared with laser-ablation produced nanotubes, and show conductivity and mean-free-path consistent with the high mobility values seen in transport experiments. The application of high-mobility semiconducting nanotubes to charge detection and memory is also reviewed; it is shown that single electronic charges may be detected with a semiconducting nanotube field-effect transistor at operating temperatures up to 200 K.