Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Room-temperature transistor based on a single carbon nanotube

Abstract

The use of individual molecules as functional electronic devices was first proposed in the 1970s (ref. 1). Since then, molecular electronics2,3 has attracted much interest, particularly because it could lead to conceptually new miniaturization strategies in the electronics and computer industry. The realization of single-molecule devices has remained challenging, largely owing to difficulties in achieving electrical contact to individual molecules. Recent advances in nanotechnology, however, have resulted in electrical measurements on single molecules4,5,6,7. Here we report the fabrication of a field-effect transistor—a three-terminal switching device—that consists of one semiconducting8,9,10 single-wall carbon nanotube11,12 connected to two metal electrodes. By applying a voltage to a gate electrode, the nanotube can be switched from a conducting to an insulating state. We have previously reported5 similar behaviour for a metallic single-wall carbon nanotube operated at extremely low temperatures. The present device, in contrast, operates at room temperature, thereby meeting an important requirement for potential practical applications. Electrical measurements on the nanotube transistor indicate that its operation characteristics can be qualitatively described by the semiclassical band-bending models currently used for traditional semiconductor devices. The fabrication of the three-terminal switching device at the level of a single molecule represents an important step towards molecular electronics.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: a, Tapping-mode AFM image of an individual carbon nanotube on top of three Pt electrodes.
Figure 2: Two probe I–Vbias curves for various values of the gate voltage (Vgate).
Figure 3: Three-probe IbiasV curves for two gate voltages.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aviram, A. & Ratner, M. A. Molecular rectifiers. Chem. Phys. Lett. 29, 277–283 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Carter, F. L., Siatkowski, R. E. & Wohltjen, H. Molecular Electronics Devices(North Holland, Amsterdam, (1988).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Aviram, A. (ed.) Molecular Electronics—Science and Technology(AIP Conf. Proc. Vol. 262, (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Joachim, C., Gimzewski, J. K., Schittler, R. R. & Chavy, C. Electronic transparence of a single C60 molecule. Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 2102–2105 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tans, S. J.et al. Individual single-wall carbon nanotubes as quantum wires. Nature 386, 474–477 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Porath, D. & Millo, O. Single electron tunneling and level spectroscopy of isolated C60 molecules. J.Appl. Phys. 81, 2241–2244 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Reed, M. A., Zhou, C., Muller, C. J., Burgin, T. P. & Tour, J. M. Conductance of a molecular junction. Science 278, 252–254 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Mintmire, J. W., Dunlap, B. I. & White, C. T. Are fullerene tubules metallic? Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 631–634 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hamada, N., Sawada, A. & Oshiyama, A. New one-dimensional conductors: graphitic microtubules. Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 1579–1581 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Saito, R., Fujita, M., Dresselhaus, G. & Dresselhaus, M. S. Electronic structure of chiral graphene tubules. Appl. Phys. Lett. 60, 2204–2206 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Iijima, S. & Ishihashi, T. Single-shell carbon nanotubes of 1-nm diameter. Nature 363, 603–605 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Bethune, D. S.et al. Cobalt-catalysed growth of carbon nanotubes with single-atomic-layer walls. Nature 363, 605–607 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Thess, A.et al. Crystalline ropes of metallic carbon nanotubes. Science 273, 483–487 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bezryadin, A., Verschueren, A. R. M., Tans, S. J. & Dekker, C. Multiprobe transport experiments on individual single-wall carbon nanotubes. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 4036–4039 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Dresselhaus, M. S., Dresselhaus, G. & Eklund, P. C. Science of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes(Academic, San Diego, (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Wildoer, J., Venema, L. C., Rinzler, A. G., Smalley, R. E. & Dekker, C. Electronic structure of atomically resolved carbon nanotubes. Nature 391, 59–62 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Odom, T. W.et al. Atomic structure and electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nature 391, 62–64 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sze, S. M. Semiconductor Devices—Physics and Technology(Wiley, Toronto, (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hirose, H., Hiroshima, M., Yasaka, T., Takakura, M. & Miyazaki, S. Ultra-thin gate oxide growth on hydrogen terminated silicon surfaces. Microelectron. Eng. 22, 3–10 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ullman, A. An Introduction to Ultrathin Organic Films(Academic, San Diego, (1991).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank R. E. Smalley and co-workers for the supply of the indispensable single-wall carbon nanotubes; A. Bezryadin, C. J. P. M. Harmans and P. Hadley for discussions; A. van den Enden for technical assistance. The work was supported by the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cees Dekker.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tans, S., Verschueren, A. & Dekker, C. Room-temperature transistor based on a single carbon nanotube. Nature 393, 49–52 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/29954

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/29954

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing