SBIR Phase II: High Quality Carbon Nanotubes for Radio Frequency Applications

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力可以在整个半导体行业中找到，其初始市场是无线通信。由于碳纳米管（CNTs）的特殊性能，其应用包括低噪声放大器（lna）、混频器和射频功率放大器（pa）。展望未来，碳纳米管晶体管（cfet）可以重塑模拟射频电子器件，由于其固有的线性和相关的低带外干扰，使下一代无线系统所需的更高的数据速率和更高的容量成为可能。cfet效率很高，在处理高功率水平的同时，比当前最先进的技术消耗更少的多余功率。这意味着移动设备的电池寿命更长，冷却成本更低。有了更多的线性射频晶体管，可以避免在额外的基站、更大的电池和无线电频谱上花费数十亿美元，为消费者和工业节省了大量资金。更有可能的是，为cfet和相关的制造工艺创造可靠的生长技术可能会提供一个优秀的传感器平台或更好的方式来形成芯片上的互连。高性能纳米管原位生长研究的关键问题适用于许多电子应用中基于碳纳米管的器件的制造。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将开发使用碳纳米管（CNTs）的射频应用电子设备。碳纳米管是一种一维材料，直径在纳米范围内。碳纳米管具有独特和非常理想的性能，从优越的迁移率到载流能力到热稳定性。计算表明碳纳米管放大器将固有的线性噪声抑制到最低可能的量子限制。这些特性使得电子器件的性能优于现有的技术，如硅和砷化镓。同样重要的是，由于材料合成和设备制造的方法相对简单，制造这些设备的成本将大大降低。这项工作将使高密度原位管的晶圆级阵列能够在硅上生长，从而使碳电子元件的开发能够与硅器件相媲美。这项工作将使利用碳纳米管可以提供的突破性线性的器件具有成本效益的晶圆规模增长。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project can be found across the semiconductor industry with its initial market in wireless communications. Due to the extraordinary properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), applications include low noise amplifiers (LNAs), mixers, and RF power amplifiers (PAs). Looking forward, carbon nanotube transistors (CFETs) can reshape analog radio frequency electronics, enabling the higher data rates and improved capacity demanded by next generation wireless systems due to their intrinsic linearity and associated low out of band interference . CFETs are highly efficient, dissipating less unwanted power than current state of the art technologies while handling high power levels. This translates into more battery life for mobile devices with lower cooling costs. With more linear RF transistors, many billions of dollars of spending on additional base stations, larger batteries, and radio spectrum can be avoided, at great savings to consumers and industry. More speculatively, the creation of reliable grwoth techniques for CFETs and associated manufacturing processes may offer an excellent sensor platform or better ways to form on chip interconnects. The key problems being investigating of in situ growth of high performance nanotubes are applicable to the fabrication of CNT based devices for many electronic applications.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop electronic devices for radio frequency applications using carbon nanotubes (CNTs). CNTs are a one dimensional material with diameters in the nanometer range. CNTs have unique and highly desirable properties ranging from superior mobility to current carrying capability to thermal stability. Calculations show CNT amplifiers will be inherently linear with noise suppressed to the lowest possible quantum limit. These properties allow for electronic devices that will perform better than existing technologies, such as silicon and gallium arsenide. Just as importantly, the cost for making these devices will be dramatically lower due to the relatively simple method for material synthesis and device fabrication. This work will enable wafer scale arrays of high density in-situ tubes to be grown on silicon enabling the development of carbon electronic components a manner comparable to silicon devices. This work will enable cost effective wafer scale growth of devices which exploit the groundbreaking linearity that CNTs can deliver.