Electron transport characteristics of the carbon nanotubes/Si heterodimensional heterostructure

The properties of nanosize heterojunctions are of increasing interest as the trend of scaling down the size of electronic devices continues. We present here the direct growth of carbon nanotubes on a silicon substrate to form a heterodimensional heterojunction. Current-voltage measurements reveal the characteristics of a Schottky diode. However, a close examination of the data suggests that the device is limited in the forward bias direction by space charge limited current. In the reverse direction, it is functionally altered by the heterodimensionality of the junction and its associated enhancement of field emission. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.