Carbon Nanotube Electronics: Design of High-Performance and Low-Power Digital Circuits

Scaling of silicon transistors continue in the sub 100-nm regime amidst severe roadblocks. Increased short-channel effects, rising leakage currents, severe process parameter variations are only a few of the overwhelming challenges that the device and circuit designers are faced with. In an attempt to alleviate the problems associated with the scaling of silicon transistors, researchers have began a quest for novel alternate materials in a post-Si nanoelectronics era. Of the different materials investigated so far, carbon nanotubes with their superior transport properties, excellent thermal conductivities and high current handling capacities have proved to be a potential heir to Si. This paper reviews the promise of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors as future devices for high-performance as well as low-power electronics.