Transistor-Like Structure Fabricated Using Branched Carbon Nanotube
Researchers at UC San Diego and Clemson University have discovered that specially
synthesized carbon nanotube structures exhibit electronic properties that are
improved over conventional transistors used in computers. In a paper published
in the September issue of Nature Materials and released online on August 14,
UCSD Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering professors Prabhakar Bandaru and Sungho
Jin, graduate student Chiara Daraio, and Clemson physicist Apparao M. Rao reported
that Y-shaped nanotubes behave as electronic switches similar to conventional
MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) transistors, the workhorses of modern microprocessors,
digital memory, and application-specific integrated circuits.