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FLEXIBLE and stretchable electronics that balance high performance with long battery life could soon be a reality, thanks to new state-of-the-art carbon nanotube transistors.
Materials science researchers from University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrated transistors with on-off ratios 1000 times better, and conductance 100 times better than previous cutting-edge carbon nanotube transistors.
According to Associate Professor Michael Arnold, one of the research leaders, the technology could be used in industrial and military applications.
“Carbon nanotubes are very strong and very flexible, so they could also be used to make flexible displays and electronics that can stretch and bend, allowing you to integrate electronics into new places like clothing,” says Arnold. “The advance enables new types of electronics that aren’t possible with the more brittle materials manufacturers are currently using.”
Until now, researchers have struggled to isolate purely semiconducting carbon nanotubes. They have also had difficulty controlling the placement and alignment of nanotubes, limiting the ability to develop high-performance carbon nanotube transistors.
To create their transistor, the research team used polymers to selectively sort out the semiconducting nanotubes, achieving a solution of ultra-high-purity semiconducting carbon nanotubes.
According to Arnold, the results mean carbon nanotube transistors are a step closer to becoming a feasible replacement for silicon transistors in everyday electronics.
“Our carbon nanotube transistors are an order of magnitude better in conductance than the best thin film transistor technologies currently being used commercially,” said Arnold.