Dielectrophoretically trapping semiconductive carbon nanotube networks

The construction of carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNT-FETs) can be accomplished by techniques such as spin coating, dielectrophoresis (DEP), and chemical vapor deposition, among which DEP has advantages in terms of the ease of manufacturability and the potential of scalability. In this study, we improved on DEP trapping of CNTs by demonstrating that CNT-FETs of CNT networks with highly semiconductive characteristics are formed with proper tuning of DEP parameters. By investigating the factors that are significant in forming these networks, we rationalize guidelines for effectively fabricating highly semiconductive CNT-FETs with mixtures of metallic and semiconductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes.