Special Issue "Carbon Nanoelectronics"

Guest Editor
Dr. Cory D. Cress
US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
E-Mail: carbon.nanoelectronics@nrl.navy.mil
Interests: carbon nanotube field effect transistor (CNTFET); graphene field effect transistor (GFET); thin-film transistors; carbon nanoelectronics; flexible electronics; device characterization; non-equilibrium green's functions (NEGF); radiation effects

Dear Colleagues,

In this Special Issue of Electronics on Carbon Nanoelectronics, we seek novel reports and review papers related to carbon nanomaterials and their use in electronic devices spanning from advanced high-performance digital and analog nanoelectronics to low-cost, printed, transparent or flexible thin-film transistors. Novel research reports may include experimental fabrication approaches, novel device results, or advanced carbon nanoelectronic device characterization techniques. We are also interested in theoretical papers pertaining to topics that range from basic transport to circuit-level design addressing unique aspects of carbon nanoelectronic devices. Review papers must capture the state-of-the-field within a broad or niche market, benchmark the requirements of carbon nanoelectronic devices for market adoption, discuss general approaches to carbon nanoelectronic device fabrication and characterization, and/or provide future outlook perspectives on carbon nanoelectronic devices. The use of carbon nanomaterials as the channel material in scaled digital electronic devices may potentially yield enhanced performance and improved energy-efficiency. In radio frequency and microwave applications, extremely high-speed operation and linearity are two primary drivers of interest in carbon nanomaterials. Other advanced technologies, such as high-speed interconnects and 3D integrated circuits are currently under investigation and uniquely suited for carbon nanomaterials. In the displays and flexible electronics markets, speed and energy-efficiency requirements are relaxed in lieu of transparency, mechanical robustness, large-area manufacturability, cost, etc. This summary of carbon nanoelectronics applications is not exhaustive, but rather, is intended to provide a sense of the scope of this Special Issue. We will give all papers related to carbon nanoelectronic materials and devices full consideration for publication. To limit redundancy, authors of review papers are encouraged to communicate their topic and scope to the Guest Editor in advance of submission.

Dr. Cory D. Cress
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues the Article Processing Charge (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• carbon nanotube field effect transistor (CNTFET)
• graphene field effect transistor (GFET)
• thin-film transistors
• carbon nanoelectronics
• flexible electronics
• device characterization
• non-equilibrium green’s functions (NEGF)
• radiation effects

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Variability and Reliability of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors
Author: Ahmad Ehteshamul Islam
Affiliation: Soft Matter Materials Branch, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Dayton, OH 45433, USA
Division 30, UES, Inc., Dayton, OH 45432, USA
Abstract: Excellent electrical performance and extreme sensitivity to chemical species in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes motivated the study of using single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) to replace silicon as next generation field effect transistor (FET) for electronic, optoelectronic, and biological applications. Such applications require single-walled carbon nanotube field effect transistors (SWNT-FETs) to have wafer-scale uniform and reliable performance over time to a level that is at least comparable with the currently used silicon-based nanoscale FETs. Due to similarity in device configuration and its operation, SWNT-FET inherits most of the variability and reliability concerns of silicon-based FETs. Additional challenges arise from the lack of chirality control in as-grown and post-processed SWNTs and also from the presence of unstable hydroxyl groups near the interface of SWNT and dielectric. In this review article, we discuss the sources of variability and reliability in SWNT-FET. Proposed solutions for mitigating each of these sources are presented and future perspectives are provided in general that are required for commercial use of SWNT-FET in future nanoscale applications.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Nanoribbons as Potentials Nanoscale Electrical Interconnects
Authors: C. Soldano ¹, S. Talapatra ² and S. Kar ³
Affiliations: ¹ ETC s.r.l. c/o CNR Institute for Nanostructured Materials, Bologna, Italy
² University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, USA
³ Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
Abstract:Carbon allotropes have gathered a large interest among different scientific communities due to their peculiar properties and potential applications in a variety of fields. Carbon nanotubes and more recently grapheme have shown very interesting and remarkable electrical properties along with the possibility of being selectively grown and/or deposited in specific arrangements. In this Review, we will focus on carbon based nanostructures (in particular carbon nanotubes and grapheme nanoribbons) which are currently playing an important role in the technological quest to replace copper/low-k materials for nterconnect applications. We will provide the Reader with a number of possible architectures, including single wall as well as multi wall carbon nanotubes, arranged in horizontal and vertical arrays, regarded as individual objects as well as bundles. Modification of their functional properties in order to fulfill interconnect requirements are also presented. Then, in the second part of the Review, recently discovered grapheme and in particular grapheme and few graphene layers nanoribbons are introduced. Different architectures based on nanostructured carbon are presented in light of interconnect applications and discussed in terms of length, chirality, edge configuration and more.