Novel electrical switching behaviour and logic in carbon nanotube Y-junctions.
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-nanotube 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 currents 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 technologies, is now possible.
Bandaru
P R
PR
Materials Science Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411, USA. pbandaru@ucsd.edu
Daraio
C
C
Jin
S
S
Rao
A M
AM
D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D012666:Semiconductors; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*
D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon