Localized charge trapping due to adsorption in nanotube field-effect transistor and its field-mediated transport

Ambient adsorption is known to cause hysteretic behavior and irreproducible transport phenomena in carbon nanotubes and their corresponding field-effect transistors. The authors report that pulsed measurements, with a time constant below 500 mu s, provide reproducible characteristics of carbon nanotube field-effect transistor with minimal hysteresis. Transient measurements of fabricated devices in air reveal multiple time constants whose origins are linked to adsorption processes and the local electric field environment of the carbon nanotube surface. Additional measurements in vacuum allow them to further elaborate on distinct effects on device transport characteristics due to adsorption. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.