Letter abstract
Nature Materials 4, 663 - 666 (2005)
doi:10.1038/nmat1450
Subject Categories: Nanoscale materials | Electronic materials
Novel electrical switching behaviour and logic in carbon nanotube Y-junctions
P. R. Bandaru1, C. Daraio1, S. Jin1 and A. M. Rao2
Carbon-nanotube-based electronics offers significant potential as a nanoscale alternative to silicon-based devices for molecular electronics technologies. Here, we show evidence for a dramatic electrical switching behaviour in a Y-junction carbon-nanotube1, 2, 3 morphology. We observe an abrupt modulation of the current from an on- to an off-state, presumably mediated by defects and the topology of the junction. The mutual interaction of the electron currents4 in the three branches of the Y-junction is shown to be the basis for a potentially new logic device. This is the first time that such switching and logic functionalities have been experimentally demonstrated in Y-junction nanotubes without the need for an external gate. A class of nanoelectronic architecture and functionality, which extends well beyond conventional field-effect transistor technologies5, 6, is now possible.
- Materials Science Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411, USA
- Kinard Laboratory of Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634-0978, USA
Correspondence to: P. R. Bandaru1 e-mail: pbandaru@ucsd.edu
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