Spray-coated carbon nanotube thin-film transistors with striped transport channels

Abstract

We present results for the transfer characteristics of carbon nanotube thin-film transistors (CNT-TFTs) that utilize single-walled carbon nanotube thin-films prepared by direct spray-coating on the substrate. By varying the number of spray-coatings (N-sp) and the concentration of nanotubes in solution (C-NT), it was possible to control the conductivity of the spray-coated nanotube thin-film from 129 to 0.1 k Omega/square. Also, by introducing stripes into the channel of the CNT-TFT, and thereby reducing the number of metallic percolation paths between source and drain, it was possible to enhance the on/off current ratio 1000-fold, from 10 to 10(4), demonstrating that it may be possible to utilize spray-coating as a method to fabricate CNT-TFTs for large area switching array applications.