The overall objective of this 3-year project is to develop a CMOS-compatible industrial process for the fabrication of field effect transistors based on carbon nanotubes (CNT-FETs). In order to solve the CNT manipulation and placement problems, two approaches based on template growth in engineered porous structures will be investigated. In the first one, CNTs will be grown inside porous alumina templates obtained by anodic oxidation of Al films.

The originality of the method is that the pores are synthesised parallel to the surface of the substrate (instead of perpendicular as usual) which will greatly ease the contacting operations for the source, drain and gate electrodes of the CNT-FETs with large numbers of CNTs connected in parallel. In the second approach, CNTs will be grown in vertical pore structures obtained by nanolithography and reactive ion etching. In both cases, the catalyst particles (necessary for the nucleation and growth of CNTs at low to medium temperature) will be electrodeposited at the bottom of the pores prior to chemical vapour deposition growth of the CNTs.

As the catalyst particles are confined inside the pores, high temperature surface diffusion is prevented during (or before) growth and the nanometric size of the particles is preserved, leading to uniform CNT diameters. Moreover, by using monocrystalline films or substrates at the bottom of the pores, we propose to deposit the catalyst particles in an epitaxial-type mode, which will lead to a perfectly controlled structure likely to induce chirality control for the CNTs. This point is of paramount importance for the future of CNT-based electronics. The project brings together 4 European partners with complementary skills, from 3 different countries. If the proposed approach is successful, only Europe would have the critical size to set up new standards and industrial practices for CNT-based electronics. It is therefore essential that such research is carried out at European level.