Localized growth of suspended SWCNTs by means of an "all-laser" process and their direct integration into nanoelectronic devices

We have successfully developed an "all-laser" processing for the localized growth of suspended single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on prepatterned SiO₂/Si substrates. Our "all-laser" process stands out by its exclusive use of the same KrF excimer laser, first, to deposit the embedded-catalyst electrodes with a controllable architecture and, second, to grow SWCNTs through the pulsed laser ablation of a pure graphite target. Under the optimal growth conditions, the suspended SWCNTs are shown to bridge laterally adjacent electrodes separated by a gap of ∼ 2 μm. These SWCNTs (having diameters in the 1.25-1.64-nm range) generally tend to auto-assemble into bundles of ∼ 5-15 nm in diameter. The "all-laser" process here developed offers the advantage of a direct integration of the SWCNTs into field-effect-transistor-like devices with no postprocessing, thereby permitting the investigation of their electrical transport properties. Thus, the suspended SWCNT bundles are shown to behave collectively as an ambipolar transistor with ON/OFF switching ratios as high as ∼ 10⁴.