NIRT: Printed Semiconducting Carbon Nanotube Arrays for High Performance Flexible Plastic Electronic Systems

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The objective of this research is to develop a basic understanding of aspects of charge transport in semiconducting single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), methods for purifying and manipulating these tubes, and means for using them in a new type of mechanically flexible transistor that incorporates massively parallel arrays of SWNTs (SWNT-arrays) as high mobility semiconductor layers. This interdisciplinary scientific effort involves the chemistry and materials science of the tubes and means to functionalize them, chemical engineering of their separation/patterning, physics of charge transport through them and electrical engineering aspects of the SWNT-array transistors. The approach includes the combined use of high resolution spectroscopic methods, scanning probe microscopies, unusual methods for device fabrication, chemical techniques for tube functionalization, and computational tools to simulate device response. The science that will emerge from this research has the potential to yield technologies for flexible 'plastic' circuits that offer performance comparable to or better than advanced single crystal silicon devices. These new approaches will enable important classes of systems -- wearable computers, high resolution flexible emissive displays, etc. -- that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with conventional inorganic electronics. The team includes DuPont as a research collaborator, and as a potential path to commercializing these systems. The interdisciplinary science and technology components of the program, especially when combined with the close collaborations with industry, provide excellent educational, human resource and outreach opportunities. High school teachers, undergraduates and graduate students from diverse backgrounds will all participate in the research, both at the academic and industrial locations.