Single Carbon Nanotube Transistor at GHz Frequency

Abstract

We report on microwave operation of top-gated single carbon nanotube transistors. From transmission measurements in the 0.1-1.6 GHz range, we deduce device transconductance gm and gate-nanotube capacitance Cg of micro- and nanometric devices. A large and frequency-independent gm of about 20 microSiemens is observed on short devices, which meets the best dc results. The capacitance per unit gate length of 60 aF/micrometer is typical of top gates on a conventional oxide with a dielectric constant equal to 10. This value is a factor of 3-5 below the nanotube quantum capacitance which, according to recent simulations, favors high transit frequencies . For our smallest devices, we find a large transit frequency equal to 50 GHz with no evidence of saturation in length dependence.