Designing the Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistor Through Contact Barrier Engineering

Through recent publications, as reviewed in this article, we have determined the effects of contact barrier change on the electrical transport properties of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors. To analyze the Fermi level alignment and the Schottky barrier at the contact, we used the first-principles electronic structure calculations of different types of metal electrodes with various bonding configurations. In parallel, we have used various experimental techniques to engineer the contact barrier: decorations of metal nanoparticles, the self-assembled monolayers of molecules, and protein nanoparticles. We investigated the changes in the electron transport properties of the nanotube transistors in relation to the adjustment of the contact barrier. Overall reviews of these studies are presented here, and a few potential applications are also suggested.