High field breakdown characteristics of carbon nanotube thin film transistors

The high field properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) network thin film transistors (CN-TFTs) are important for their practical operation, and for understanding their reliability. Using a combination of experimental and computational techniques we show how the channel geometry (length L(C) and width W(C)) and network morphology (average CNT length L(t) and alignment angle distribution θ) affect heat dissipation and high field breakdown in such devices. The results suggest that when WC ≥ L(t), the breakdown voltage remains independent of W(C) but varies linearly with L(C). The breakdown power varies almost linearly with both W(C) and L(C) when WC >> L(t). We also find that the breakdown power is more susceptible to the variability in the network morphology compared to the breakdown voltage. The analysis offers new insight into the tunable heat dissipation and thermal reliability of CN-TFTs, which can be significantly improved through optimization of the network morphology and device geometry.

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