Carbon nanotube electronics and optoelectronics

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one-dimensional nanostructures with unique properties. This article discusses why CNTs provide an ideal basis for a future carbon-based nanoelectronic technology, focusing specifically on singie-carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors (CNT-FETs). Results of transport experiments and theoretical modeling will be used to address such issues as the nature of the switching mechanism, the role of the metal contacts, the role of the environment, the FET seating properties, and the use of these findings to produce high-performance p-type, n-iype, and ambipolar CNT-FETs and simple intra-nanotube circuits. CNTs are also direct-gap nanostructures that show promise in the field of optoelectronics. This article briefly reviews their optical behavior and presents results that show that ambipolar CNT-FETs can be used to produce electrically controlled light sources based on radiative electron-hole recombination. The reverse process-that is, the generation of photocurrents by the irradiation of single CNT-FETs - and photoconductivity spectra of individual CNTs are also demonstrated.