A study of preferential growth of carbon nanotubes with semiconducting behavior grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

The electrical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) have been studied by measuring the I-V characteristics of many CNT-field effect transistors. The ratio of modulation current to total current was as high as 97%, with a small nondepletable OFF current component. This suggests that CNTs with semiconducting behavior were preferentially grown in the PECVD process. Raman scattering spectroscopy of the PECVD-grown CNTs, however, revealed several peaks of the radial breezing mode, which correspond to the presence of metallic CNTs. Scanning gate microscopy measurement of the CNT-FET with an ON/OFF ratio of 100 revealed the existence of a potential barrier in the metallic CNTs. These results suggest that observation of the preferential growth of CNTs with semiconducting behavior in the CNT-FETs fabricated via the present PECVD process results from the opening of the band gap due to defects caused by irradiation damage during the PECVD growth.