Electrical properties of the graphitic carbon contacts on carbon nanotube field effect transistors

Carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNT-FETs) with graphitic carbon (G-C) contacts were fabricated and the electrical properties of the G-C contacts were studied. The CNT-FETs showed p-type conduction in air. However, the conduction type has changed to ambipolar in vacuum after annealing at 200 °C. This suggests that the p-type conduction in air is attributed to the adsorbed oxygen. The barrier heights at the G-C/CNT contacts in vacuum were ∼400 meV for electrons and ∼310 meV for holes. These values suggest that the Fermi level of G-C contacts is located at slightly below the midgap of the CNTs in vacuum.