Avouris: Field-Effect Transistors Assembled from Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes, Nano Lett

We have fabricated field-effect transistors from carbon nanotubes using a novel selective placement scheme. We use carbon nanotubes that are covalently bound to molecules containing a hydroxamic acid functionality. The functionalized nanotubes bind strongly to basic metal oxide surfaces, but not to silicon dioxide. Upon annealing, the functionalization is removed, restoring the electronic properties of the nanotubes. The devices thus fabricated show excellent electrical characteristics. One-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires1 and carbon nanotubes2,3 (CNTs) have excellent electrical proper-ties, making them attractive for applications in nanotechnol-ogy.4-7 Semiconducting nanotubes, in particular, are receiv-ing considerable attention because of their very promising performance in field-effect transistors (FETs).8-12 However, for the large-scale integration of CNTs in electronics to take place, many challenges must be overcome. One particularly important problem is selectively positioning CNTs on a sub-strate. Although considerable progress has been made fo