Fabrication and characterization of suspended carbon nanotubes

We have developed a fast and straightforward technique to fabricate suspended carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNT FETs) using pristine as-grown carbon nanotubes (unexposed to photoresist or solvents). CNT thin films were first grown on a 500 nm thick thermally oxidised Si substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using ferritin encapsulated iron nanoparticles as the catalyst.The technique was optimized using a two-step photolithographic process to fabricate raised steps of a certain height in both the source and drain electrodes near the channel.