DC modeling and the source of flicker noise in passivated carbon nanotube transistors

DC and intrinsic low-frequency noise properties of p-channel depletion-mode carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNT-FETs) are investigated. To characterize the intrinsic noise properties, a thin atomic layer deposited (ALD) HfO₂ gate dielectric is used as a passivation layer to isolate CNT-FETs from environmental factors. The ALD HfO2 gate dielectric in these high-performance top-gated devices is instrumental in attaining hysteresis-free current-voltage characteristics and minimizes low-frequency noise. Under small drain-source voltage, the carriers in the CNT channel are modulated by the gate electrode and the intrinsic 1/ f noise is found to be correlated with charge trapping/detrapping from the oxide substrate as expected. When thermionic emission is the dominant carrier transport mechanism in CNT-FETs under large drain-source voltages, the excess 1/ f noise is attributed to the noise stemming from metal-CNT Schottky barrier contacts as revealed by the measurements.