Evaluation of interface trap densities and quantum capacitance in carbon nanotube network thin-film transistors

Abstract

The interface trap density in single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) network thin-film transistors (TFTs) is a fundamental and important parameter for assessing the electronic performance of TFTs. However, the number of studies on the extraction of interface trap densities, particularly in SWNT TFTs, has been insufficient. In this work, we propose an efficient technique for extracting the energy-dependent interface traps in SWNT TFTs. From the measured dispersive, frequency-dependent capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics, the dispersive-free, frequency-independent C–V curve was obtained, thus enabling the extraction and analysis of the interface trap density, which was found to be approximately 8.2 × 1011 eV−1 cm−2 at the valence band edge. The frequency-independent C–V curve also allows further extraction of the quantum capacitance in the SWNT network without introducing any additional fitting process or parameters. We found that the extracted value of the quantum capacitance in SWNT networks is lower than the theoretical value in aligned SWNTs due to the cross point of SWNTs on the SWNT network. Therefore, the method proposed in this work indicates that the C–V measurement is a powerful tool for obtaining deep physical insights regarding the electrical performance of SWNT TFTs.