Intrinsic performance of carbon-nanotube transistors

Intrinsic transconductance of carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) was investigated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown both by laser ablation and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The measured transconductance at a drain voltage of -1V was 8.7 μS for a CVD-grown CNT with a diameter of 1.5 nm. Very high intrinsic transconductance of 20 μS was calculated by considering the contribution of parasitic resistance. Apparent and intrinsic transconductance per unit channel width are considerably larger than those for the state-of-the-art Si-MOSFETs. We expect that the performance of CNTFETs will advance further by improving CNT quality and by optimising device structures.