Carbon nanotube devices at the quantum limit | CARDEQ


Funding period:Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2009
Agency: European Union

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge funding by the European Union project "Carbon nanotube devices at the quantum limit" (CARDEQ, grant agreement ID: IST-021285-2)


Description

The European project IST-021285-2 "Carbon nanotube devices at the quantum limit" (CARDEQ) started in January 2006 having the Molecular Computing group as a project node. Carbon nanotubes have several unique electrical and mechanical properties, not shared by any other molecular conductor. They form one class of molecular conductors that provide the ultimate limit for microelectronic miniaturization.
Carbon nanotubes are metallic or semiconducting depending on their chirality. Owing to their small diameter, the metallic tubes are truly one-dimensional conductors. They have been found technologically manageable as well as robust so that very large current densities (of the order of 107 A/cm2) can be passed through them without any damage.

The mean free path of electrons can be several microns so that the tubes may act as ballistic conductors and, accordingly, transport is virtually noiseless. In addition, superconductivity has been reported in carbon nanotubes.

In this project, we plan to take advantage of the extraordinary electronic and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. We plan to extend the operation of HEMT/FET-type nanotube devices to the quantum limit, and to demonstrate their usefulness in conjunction with a mechanical nanotube resonator serving as a force sensor at sub-attoNewton resolution.

These devices are:
- carbon nanotube FET
- carbon nanotube rf-SET
- superconducting nanotube transistor
- the nanomechanical force sensor
Our devices will provide either unsurpassed sensitivity or bandwidth for the detection of charge and mechanical motion. The development of these three detector-amplifiers, together with optimization of contact resistances and the nanomechanical force sensor, form our basic research topics. The final goal is to build a sub-attoNewton force sensor that would act simultaneously as the sensing element as well as its own first stage preamplifier.

Carbon nanotube devices at the quantum limit | CARDEQ


Funding period:Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2009
Agency: European Union

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge funding by the European Union project "Carbon nanotube devices at the quantum limit" (CARDEQ, grant agreement ID: IST-021285-2)


Description

The European project IST-021285-2 "Carbon nanotube devices at the quantum limit" (CARDEQ) started in January 2006 having the Molecular Computing group as a project node. Carbon nanotubes have several unique electrical and mechanical properties, not shared by any other molecular conductor. They form one class of molecular conductors that provide the ultimate limit for microelectronic miniaturization.
Carbon nanotubes are metallic or semiconducting depending on their chirality. Owing to their small diameter, the metallic tubes are truly one-dimensional conductors. They have been found technologically manageable as well as robust so that very large current densities (of the order of 107 A/cm2) can be passed through them without any damage.

The mean free path of electrons can be several microns so that the tubes may act as ballistic conductors and, accordingly, transport is virtually noiseless. In addition, superconductivity has been reported in carbon nanotubes.

In this project, we plan to take advantage of the extraordinary electronic and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. We plan to extend the operation of HEMT/FET-type nanotube devices to the quantum limit, and to demonstrate their usefulness in conjunction with a mechanical nanotube resonator serving as a force sensor at sub-attoNewton resolution.

These devices are:
- carbon nanotube FET
- carbon nanotube rf-SET
- superconducting nanotube transistor
- the nanomechanical force sensor
Our devices will provide either unsurpassed sensitivity or bandwidth for the detection of charge and mechanical motion. The development of these three detector-amplifiers, together with optimization of contact resistances and the nanomechanical force sensor, form our basic research topics. The final goal is to build a sub-attoNewton force sensor that would act simultaneously as the sensing element as well as its own first stage preamplifier.