Metal-Free Carbon Nanotube Growth for Nanoelectronics Applications

南安普顿大学的研究人员一直在将电子与计算机科学学院在Sigec外延方面的专业知识与物理与天文学院在碳纳米管生长方面的专业知识结合起来，进行一系列原理实验的证明。这些实验清楚地展示了一种全新的方法，即在硅上使用碳注入锗量子点来生产碳纳米管，这种方法能够在不需要金属催化剂的情况下生长单壁和多壁碳纳米管。生长过程中没有金属是这种新方法的一个重要优势，因为它将允许碳纳米管集成在与硅纳米电子设备相同的晶片上，而不会引入不必要的金属污染。这项提议将牛津大学在碳纳米管材料科学方面的专业知识与南安普顿大学在硅加工和碳纳米管生长方面的专业知识结合起来。我们试图将我们对这些令人兴奋的新结果的理解建立在坚实的科学基础上，同时提高纳米管的产量、密度和分布。系统地改变生长条件和各种表征技术(拉曼、扫描电子显微镜、电子显微镜等)。应用于表征纳米管和鉴定种子的性质。将碳离子注入和SiGe：C外延作为纳米管生长的种子方法进行比较。如果后一种方法被发现是有效的，将开发一种生长工艺，允许一步生长种子层和碳纳米管，从而为我们的专利生长工艺提供一条有吸引力的开发途径。最后，对碳纳米管的电学特性进行了原则性证明。

The investigators at the University of Southampton have been combining expertise in SiGeC epitaxy in the School of Electronics & Computer Science with expertise in carbon nanotube growth in the School of Physics & Astronomy in a series of proof of principle experiments. These experiments have clearly demonstrated an entirely new method of producing carbon nanotubes using carbon implanted germanium quantum dots on silicon, which enables single and multi- walled carbon nanotubes to be grown without the need for metal catalysts. The absence of metal in the growth process is an important advantage for this new method because it will allow carbon nanotubes to be integrated on the same wafer as silicon nanoelectronics without introducing undesirable metallic contamination. This proposal brings together expertise in the materials science of carbon nanotubes at the University of Oxford with expertise in silicon processing and carbon nanotube growth at the University of Southampton. We seek to put our understanding of these exciting new results on a solid scientific foundation and at the same time to improve the yield, density and distribution of the nanotubes. The growth conditions will be systematically varied and a variety of characterisation techniques (Raman, SEM, TEM etc.) applied to characterise the nanotubes and identify the nature of the seeds. Carbon ion implantation and SiGe:C epitaxy will be compared as approaches for seeding the nanotube growth. If this latter approach is found to be effective, a growth process will be developed that allows the seed layers and the carbon nanotubes to be grown in a single step, thereby providing an attractive route to exploitation for our patented growth process. Finally, proof of principle electrical characterisation of the carbon nanotubes will be performed.