The electrical performance of random carbon nanotube network transistors is found by Monte Carlo simulation to strongly depend on the nature of the conduction path percolating the network. When the network is percolated only by semiconducting nanotube pathways (OSPs), the transistors can directly achieve both high on current and large on/off current ratio. Based on percolation theory, the present work predicts that there exist specific nanotube coverage domains within which OSP has the highest probability and becomes predominant. Simulation results show that the coverage domains depend on the network dimension, nanotube length, and the fraction of metallic nanotubes.

This letter presents rectifiers based on the diode connection of carbon nanotube network (CNN) transistors. Despite a low density of carbon nanotubes in the CNNs, the devices can achieve excellent performance with a forward/reverse current ratio reaching 10(5). By casting nanotube suspension on oxidized Si substrates with predefined electrodes, CNN-based field-effect transistors are readily prepared. By short-circuiting the source and gate terminals, CNN-based rectifiers are realized with the rectification characteristics independent of whether Pd or Al is employed as the contact electrodes. This independence is especially attractive for applications of CNN-based transistors/rectifiers in flexible electronics with various printing techniques.

Self-gating leading to rectification action is frequently observed in two-terminal devices built from individual or networked single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on oxidized Si substrates. The current-voltage (I-V) curves of these SWCNT devices remain unaltered when switching the measurement probes. For ordinary diodes, the I-V curves are symmetric about the origin of the coordinates when exchanging the probes. Numerical simulations suggest that the self-gated rectification action should result from the floating semiconducting substrate which acts as a back gate. Self-gating effect is clearly not unique for SWCNT devices. As expected, it is absent for devices fabricated on insulating substrates.

This work presents a simple scheme of using composite carbon nanotube networks (c-CNNs) to significantly improve the electrical performance of long-channel thin film transistors based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Such c-CNNs comprise two sets of SWCNTs. A primary set consists of dense arrays of perfectly aligned long SWCNTs along the transistor channel direction. A secondary set is composed of short SWCNTs either randomly orientated or perpendicularly aligned with respect to the channel. While retaining a high on/off current ratio, the drive current in such c-CNNs is much higher than that in currently studied systems with single CNNs or SWCNT arrays.

Systematic theoretical studies based on a comprehensive heterogeneous stick percolation model are performed to gain insights into the essence of doping effects in electrical sensing of biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA fragments, using carbon nanotube network field-effect transistors (CNNFETs). The present work demonstrates that the electrical response to doping of CNNFETs is primarily caused by conductance change at the electrode-nanotube contacts, in contrast to that in the channel as assumed previously. However, the presence of intertube junctions in the channel could reduce the sensitivity of CNNFET-based biosensors and is partially responsible for the experimentally observed channel-length dependent sensitivity.

This work presents the generalization of the concept of universal finite-size scaling functions to continuum percolation. A high-efficiency algorithm for Monte Carlo simulations is developed to investigate, with extensive realizations, the finite-size scaling behavior of stick percolation in large-size systems. The percolation threshold of high precision is determined for isotropic widthless stick systems as N(c)l(2)=5.637 26 +/- 0.000 02, with N-c as the critical density and l as the stick length. Simulation results indicate that by introducing a nonuniversal metric factor A=0.106 910 +/- 0.000 009, the spanning probability of stick percolation on square systems with free boundary conditions falls on the same universal scaling function as that for lattice percolation.

On the basis of Monte Carlo simulations, the present work systematically investigates how conductivity exponents depend on the ratio of stick-stick junction resistance to stick resistance for two-dimensional stick percolation. Simulation results suggest that the critical conductivity exponent extracted from size-dependent conductivities of systems exactly at the percolation threshold is independent of the resistance ratio and has a constant value of 1.280 +/- 0.014. In contrast, the apparent conductivity exponent extracted from density-dependent conductivities of systems well above the percolation threshold monotonically varies with the resistance ratio, following an error function, and lies in the vicinity of the critical exponent.

The present work reports on the development of a class of sophisticated thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on ink-jet printing of pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for the channel formation. The transistors are manufactured on oxidized silicon wafer and flexible plastic substrates at ambient conditions. For this purpose, ink-jet printing techniques are developed aiming at high-throughput production of SWCNT thin-film channels shaped in long strips. Stable SWCNT inks with proper fluidic characteristics are formulated by polymer addition. The present work unveils, through Monte Carlo simulation and in the light of heterogeneous percolation, the underlying physics of the superiority of long-strip channels for SWCNT TFTs. It further predicts the compatibility of such a channel structure with ink-jet printing taking into account the minimum dimensions achievable by commercially available printers. The printed devices exhibit improved electrical performance and scalability, compared to previously reported ink-jet printed SWCNT TFTs. The present work demonstrates that ink-jet printed SWCNT TFTs of long-strip channels are promising building blocks for flexible electronics.