Carbon Nanotube Technology for RF Amplification

ABSTRACT: This Phase I STTR project aims to develop a silicon friendly carbon nanotube field effect transistor platform technology with reduced contact resistance and wafer-scale aligned carbon nanotubes towards development of an L-band amplifier. Key innovation nuggets that will be developed include: 1) a wafer scalable process to deposit dense aligned arrays of high purity semiconducting and length sorted CNTs, 2) a process that reduces metal/CNT contact-resistance via a carbon intermediation layer for enhanced wetting of the metal/tube interface, and 3) channel doping for reduced Ron. The resulting baseline process enhancements will be subsequently integrated into the Carbonics photolithographic T-gate process that will enable manufacture of CNT FET device and RF circuit building blocks and products such as amplifiers, LNAs, mixers, and VCOs.; BENEFIT: Carbon based field effect transistors are poised to go beyond incumbent GaAs radio frequency technologies. The unique properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes such as their high saturation velocity, high linearity, low intrinsic capacitance, large mean-free paths, and their ability to integrate within standard CMOS processes makes then excellent candidates for RF devices/circuits. CNT RF transistor are poised to improve signal quality, lower noise, exhibit higher linearity, and less power consumption. All in all, such attributes are able to extend battery life for CNT FET based electronics, from UAV to personal consumer devices.