Carbon-based nanoelectromechanical devices

Projektinformationen

CANEL

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 003673

Projekt abgeschlossen

Startdatum 1 Juni 2004

Enddatum 31 Mai 2007

Finanziert unter

• Information Society Technologies: thematic priority under the specific programme "Integrating and strengthening the European research area" (2002-2006).

Gesamtkosten € 1 800 000,00

EU-Beitrag € 1 800 000,00

Koordiniert durch

CHALMERS TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLA AKTIEBOLAG
Sweden

Exploitable results

Integrating carbon based nanoelectromechanical devices with silicon technology

The overall objective of the CANEL project was to fabricate, analyse and optimise carbon-based nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) devices and to integrate them with silicon technology. With respect to applications the focus has been on information technology devices such as nanoelectromechanical switches and memory elements. Several types of carbon-based structures – containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs), fullerenes, or peapods – where the mechanical degrees of freedom are connected to electrical functionality of the device have been studied. Since all the proposed devices are fundamentally new, they posed both experimental and theoretical challenges. Our objective was to develop theoretical models for nanoelectromechanical devices, and to use these models to optimise device geometries and to analyse device behaviour. We studied the interplay of physical processes in individual devices, (e.g., single electron charging effects in mechanically soft structures), device sensitivity to external perturbations, (e.g., switching characteristics), and novel applications. An important feature of our project was the integration of silicon and carbon technologies. Silicon is the material of choice for most electronics, and any new technology that is suggested as an extension to silicon devices must be compatible with silicon both in terms of circuit design and fabrication process. Here our objective was to develop up-scalable growth techniques that are compatible with silicon device processes. The project has been organised in four scientific (WP1-WP4) and one administrative (WP5) work package and involves four partners, Partners 1-4: Chalmers University of Technology (Chalmers, coordinator), Göteborg University, TU Delft and Copenhagen University. The goal of WP1 has been to fabricate and characterize carbon nanotube-based nanorelays and nanoelectromechanical single-electron transistors (NEM-SETs) and to study their behavior theoretically. WP2 has dealt with the fabrication and modelling of fullerene-based nanoelectromechanical devices. Its objective was to fabricate and analyse two- and three-terminal geometries on the prototype level, and to develop approaches that allow for the integration of fullerene-based NEMS into silicon technology. The objective of WP3 was to investigate and exploit the NEMS prospects for peapod based devices - peapods are nanotubes filled with fullerene molecules such as C60 - where the fullerenes constitutes the mechanically active element. The objective of WP4 was to develop techniques for integrating carbon-based NEMS devices with silicon device technology.