Advisor(s)

Nicol E. McGruer

Contributor(s)

George G. Adams, Ahmed Busnaina

Date of Award

2009

Date Accepted

1-2009

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department or Academic Unit

College of Engineering. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Keywords

Electrical engineering, Carbon nanotube

Subject Categories

Nanostructured materials--Design and construction, Electrical circuits

Disciplines

Engineering

Abstract

This thesis presents electrical test results of carbon nanotube based nano-switches fabricated at Northeastern University. A study of contact resistances of carbon nanotubes with various metals and a preliminary look at the reliability of the contacts was also carried out. A test system was designed to make measurements of low-level electrical signals. The test setup could measure currents down to the 100 femto-amps regime and voltages as low as 100µ V accurately. The noise margin for the test setup was 78mdB (80 fA). Experiments include two-wire and four-wire resistance measurements, switching experiments and anneals with temperatures ranging from 100OC to 500OC. A new template for nanoswitch was designed and fabricated to perform high rate assembly. Following the assembly a study of contact resistance of carbon nanotubes with different metals at different temperatures was made. The effects of contact resistance of the annealed samples with time were also studied. This study provides insight into the reliability of these switches and gives direction for developing better contacts.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights Holder

Suchit Shreyas Shah


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