Carbon nanotube field-effect inverters

This letter presents p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverters based on single-walled carbon nanotube field-effect transistors. The device structures consist of carbon nanotubes grown via a chemical-vapor deposition method and contacted by two metallic source/drain electrodes. Electrical properties of both p-type (without doping) and n-type nanotube transistors with potassium doping have been measured. By utilizing a resistor as the load for a p-type nanotube field-effect transistor, a PMOS inverter is demonstrated. Furthermore, by connecting a p-type nanotube transistor and an n-type nanotube transistor, a CMOS inverter is demonstrated. Both types of inverters exhibit nice transfer characteristics at room temperature. Our work represents one step forward toward integrated circuits based on nanoelectronic devices. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.