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Carbon nanotube transistor technology for More-Moore scaling

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Abstract

Scaling of silicon field-effect transistors has fueled the exponential development of microelectronics in the past 60 years, but is now close to its physical limits with the critical dimensions of state-of-the-art silicon devices approaching the sub-10 nm regime. Carbon nanotubes have been suggested to hold great promise of replacing the central role of silicon in the next-generation logic switches with their unique geometrical and electrical properties. In this article, I firstly examine the scaling advantages of carbon nanotubes compared to silicon from technology-development perspective, and then review the latest progress on addressing the manufacturability issues for scaled carbon-nanotube transistors, from materials to device-integration levels. Finally, the possible pathways for nanotube transistors to transition into commercial applications are discussed.

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Acknowledgement

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through grant ECCS-1950182.

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of Chemistry Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61820, USA

    Qing Cao

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Cao, Q. Carbon nanotube transistor technology for More-Moore scaling. Nano Res. 14, 3051–3069 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3459-z

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