Self-assembled nano-electro-mechanical tri-state carbon nanotube switches for reconfigurable integrated circuits

We report, for the first time, self-assembled cantilever and clamped-clamped tri-state carbon nanotube (T-CNT) nano-electro-mechanical (NEM) switches with sub-100 nm air-gap dual lateral gates. Unlike conventional bi-state CNT switches, the T-CNT NEM switches operate in three states: CNT in the center (OFF), CNT attracted to the left gate (ON-1) or to the right gate (ON-2). They demonstrate excellent sensing current windows (I_on/I_off~10⁷), ultra-low I_off (~10^-14 A), good isolation and high endurance (cycle>;10²). The proposed hysteretic switches offer a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible bottom-up approach for various potential applications: logic devices, memories, etc., with higher circuit density and novel ultra-scaled configurability functions.