Nanotube Circuits

1. New research suggests that networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes printed onto bendable plastic perform well as semiconductors in integrated circuits. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Purdue University say that these nanotube networks could replace organic semiconductors in applications such as flexible displays.
2. Development of flexible electronics has recently focused on organic molecules because, unlike silicon, they are compatible with bendable plastic substrates. Flexible electronics have potential in such applications as 14 15 lowpower electronic newspapers or PDAs that roll up into the size and shape of a pen. The problem with existing organic-electronic devices, however, is that “they aren’t well developed for long-term reliability, and they perform far worse than silicon,” says John A. Rogers, an engineering professor at UIUC.
3. Carbon-nanotube networks, on the other hand, combine the performance of silicon with the flexibility of organic films on plastic. Rogers says that the speed of the nanotube device compares favorably with the speed of commercially used single-crystal silicon circuits. The transistors can also switch between on and off states in the range of several kilohertz, which is similar to the range of those used for liquid crystal displays and radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors. However, the on-off current ratio for carbon nanotubes is still a few orders of magnitude lower than that for silicon transistors.
4. The researchers made the networks by depositing nanotubes onto plastic by standard printing methods, which could lead to low-cost, large-scale fabrication. And the printed circuits can bend to a radius of about five millimeters without compromising the electrical performance of the device. “This method is good for flexible electronics that need to be printed over a large area,” says Ali Javey, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.


Answer the question: What can networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes printed onto bendable plastic replace?