Tunable field-effect transistor device with metallofullerene nanopeapods

A fine tuning of the band gap of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been, achieved by filling various.,types of endohedral metallofullerenes into the SWNTs, the so-called nanopeapods. We-report various electronic transport properties of fullerene peapods used as the channels of field-effect transistors (FETs) and demonstrate that the metallofullerene peapods can provide the tunable band gaps of the FET channels depending on the type of metallofullerene inserted in the SWNTs. All of the metallofullerene peapods FETs exhibit p- and n-type, the so-called ambipolar carrier transportation by variable gate bias. The ranges of the off state regions of the,FET fabricated highly sensitivity with respect to the amount of charge transfer in metallofullerenes, which results in band-gap engineering. Metallofullerene peapods can be used to manipulate the electronic structure of SWNTs in nanometer scale. In such a highly functionalized SWNT, metallofullerene peapods, might be a key material for fabricating and developing sophisticated electronic devices in the future.