The Science and Technology of Carbon Nanotube-Semiconductor Heterojunction Contact Devices

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AbstractThe objective of this research is to develop new electronic device architectures enabled by carbon nanotubes-semiconductor junction contacts that provide new functionality and ultimately simplify device manufacturing. Metal-semiconductor contact junctions are transcendent electronic components that pervade modern electronics. Nevertheless much remains to be understood about the transport across these contacts, particularly in the rapidly evolving realm of organic semiconductors. The University of Florida researchers have discovered that carbon nanotubes provide a unique metal for such junctions that afford a new degree of freedom permitting electronic control over the junction characteristics. The approach is to fabricate devices exploiting this degree of freedom and establish the design parameters, coupling experiment with simulation tools that optimize the devices, thus demonstrating the performance and manufacturing gains to be had.The intellectual merit of the effort lies not only in the technology to be developed but also in the understanding to be gained in the more general science of metal-semiconductor contacts. Prof. Andrew Rinzler, an experimental physicist, and Prof. Jing Guo, an electronic engineer specializing in device simulation and modeling, are uniquely suited for both development of the technology and for gaining a quantitative understanding of these novel contact junctions.Broader impacts will include:Economic benefits from accelerated insertion of inexpensive organic semiconductors into commercial devices. Webcam interviews for high school teachers and students will be conducted for early exposure of K-12 students to modern electronics technology. A web-based simulation tool on carbon nanotube heterojunction devices will be developed and deployed on the NSF sponsored nanoHUB. Minority and female students will be engaged through the Society of Women Engineers chapter and the University Minority Mentorship Program at the University of Florida