D. G. Hasko

One-dimensional transport and the quantisation of the ballistic resistance

The authors present experimental results, and a supporting theory, showing that a one-dimensional system in which transport is ballistic possesses a quantised resistance, h/2ie2, where i is the number of occupied 1D sub-bands and the spin degeneracy is two. A short narrow channel is defined in the 2DEG of a GaAs-AlGaAs heterojunction and as the width of the system is changed, the sub-bands pass through the Fermi energy and the resistance jumps between quantised values. The value of the quantised resistance is derived and the accuracy of the quantisation is discussed. The effect can be strong at temperatures approximately 0.1 K, with up to 17 sub-bands being observed. The action of a transverse magnetic field is to depopulate the sub-bands and form hybrid levels; a parallel field lifts the spin degeneracy and brings about a further quantisation of resistance at values h/2(i+1/2)e2.

Uniform patterned growth of carbon nanotubes without surface carbon

In order to utilize the unique properties of carbon nanotubes in microelectronic devices, it is necessary to develop a technology which enables high yield, uniform, and preferential growth of perfectly aligned nanotubes. We demonstrate such a technology by using plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD) of carbon nanotubes. By patterning the nickel catalyst, we have deposited uniform arrays of nanotubes and single free-standing aligned nanotubes at precise locations. In the PECVD process, however, detrimental amorphous carbon (a-C) is also deposited over regions of the substrate surface where the catalyst is absent. Here, we show, using depth-resolved Auger electron spectroscopy, that by employing a suitable deposition (acetylene, C2H2) to etching (ammonia, NH3) gas ratio, it is possible to obtain nanotube growth without the presence of a-C on the substrate surface.

Field emission from dense, sparse, and patterned arrays of carbon nanofibers

We compare the field emission characteristics of dense (109 nanofibers/cm2), sparse (107 nanofibers/cm2), and patterned arrays (106 nanofibers/cm2) of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers on silicon substrates. The carbon nanofibers were prepared using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of acetylene and ammonia gases in the presence of a nickel catalyst. We demonstrate how the density of carbon nanofibers can be varied by reducing the deposition yield through nickel interaction with a diffusion layer or by direct lithographic patterning of the nickel catalyst to precisely position each nanofiber. The patterned array of individual vertically aligned nanofibers had the most desirable field emission characteristics, highest apparent field enhancement factor, and emission site density.

Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition carbon nanotubes/nanofibres - How uniform do they grow?

The ability to grow carbon nanotubes/nanofibres (CNs) with a high degree of uniformity is desirable in many applications. In this paper, the structural uniformity of CNs produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition is evaluated for field emission applications. When single isolated CNs were deposited using this technology, the structures exhibited remarkable uniformity in terms of diameter and height (standard deviations were 4.1 and 6.3% respectively of the average diameter and height). The lithographic conditions to achieve a high yield of single CNs are also discussed. Using the height and diameter uniformity statistics, we show that it is indeed possible to accurately predict the average field enhancement factor and the distribution of enhancement factors of the structures, which was confirmed by electrical emission measurements on individual CNs in an array.

Charge-Qubit Operation of an Isolated Double Quantum Dot

We have investigated coherent time evolution of pseudomolecular states of an isolated (leadless) silicon double quantum dot, where operations are carried out via capacitively coupled elements. Manipulation is performed by short pulses applied to a nearby gate, and measurement is performed by a single-electron transistor. The electrical isolation of this qubit results in a significantly longer coherence time than previous reports for semiconductor charge qubits realized in artificial molecules.

Nanoelectromechanical switches with vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

Electromechanical switching devices have been fabricated successfully employing vertically grown multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) from the prepatterned catalyst dots on the patterned device electrodes. The devices show various interesting switching characteristics depending on the length and the number of MWCNTs used. The device design not only simplifies the fabrication process, but also improves the integration density greatly. The device has a great potential in realizing technically viable nanoelectromechanical systems, such as switch, memory, fingers, or grippers.

Carbon nanotube Schottky diode and directionally dependent field-effect transistor using asymmetrical contacts

We demonstrate the fabrication and operation of a carbon nanotube (CNT) based Schottky diode by using a Pd contact (high-work-function metal) and an Al contact (low-work-function metal) at the two ends of a single-wall CNT. We show that it is possible to tune the rectification current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the CNT through the use of a back gate. In contrast to standard back gate field-effect transistors (FET) using same-metal source drain contacts, the asymmetrically contacted CNT operates as a directionally dependent CNT FET when gated. While measuring at source-drain reverse bias, the device displays semiconducting characteristics whereas at forward bias, the device is nonsemiconducting.

Fabrication of <5 nm width lines in poly(methylmethacrylate) resist using a water:isopropyl alcohol developer and ultrasonically-assisted development

We report on the fabrication of 3–4 nm wide continuous lines in a positive tone electron beam resist poly(methylmethacrylate) on a solid substrate. This narrow linewidth was made possible through the use of a nonsolvent-based developer system, water:isopropyl alcohol, together with ultrasonically-assisted development, which reduced the effective development time thus limiting the swelling of the unexposed resist. This combination of solvent system and development technique results in a smaller radius of gyration in the developing polymer molecules and in a wider exposure dose latitude compared to conventional processing and so allows ultrasmall features to be reproduced.

Fabrication and electrical characteristics of carbon nanotube-based microcathodes for use in a parallel electron-beam lithography system

This article presents an overview of the “Nanolith” parallel electron-beam (e-beam) lithography approach. The e-beam writing head consists of an array of microguns independently driven by an active matrix complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor circuit. At the heart of each microgun is a field-emission microcathode comprised of an extraction gate and vertical carbon nanotube emitter, whose mutual alignment is critical in order to achieve highly focused electron beams. Thus, in this work, a single-mask, self-aligned technique is developed to pattern the extraction gate, insulator, and nanotubes in the microcathode. The microcathode examined here (150×150 gates, 2 μm gate diameter, with multiple nanotubes per gate) exhibited a peak current of 10.5 μA at 48 V when operated with a duty cycle of 0.5%. The self-aligned process was extended to demonstrate the fabrication of single nanotube-based microcathodes with submicron gates.

High performance ZnO nanowire field effect transistor using self-aligned nanogap gate electrodes

A field effect transistor (FET) using a zinc oxide nanowire with significantly enhanced performance is demonstrated. The device consists of single nanowire and self-aligned gate electrodes with well defined nanosize gaps separating them from the suspended nanowire. The fabricated FET exhibits excellent performance with a transconductance of 3.06μS, a field effect mobility of 928cm2∕Vs, and an on/off current ratio of 106. The electrical characteristics are the best obtained to date for a ZnO transistor. The FET has a n-type channel and operates in enhancement mode. The results are close to those reported previously for p-type carbon nanotube (CNT) FETs. This raises the possibility of using ZnO as the n-type FET with a CNT as the p-type FET in nanoscale complementary logic circuits.