The use of individual molecules as functional electronic devices was first proposed in the 1970s (ref 1) Since then, molecular electronics2,3 has attracted much interest, particularly because it could lead to conceptually new miniaturization strategies in the electronics and computer industry The realization of single-molecule devices has remained challenging, largely owing to difficulties in achieving electrical contact to individual molecules Recent advances in nanotechnology, however, have resulted in electrical measurements on single molecules4,5,6,7 Here we report the fabrication of a field-effect transistor—a three-terminal switching device—that consists of one semiconducting8,9,10 single-wall carbon nanotube11,12 connected to two metal electrodes By applying a voltage to a gate electrode, the nanotube can be switched from a conducting to an insulating state We have previously reported5 similar behaviour for a metallic single-wall carbon nanotube operated at extremely low temperatures The present device, in contrast, operates at room temperature, thereby meeting an important requirement for potential practical applications Electrical measurements on the nanotube transistor indicate that its operation characteristics can be qualitatively described by the semiclassical band-bending models currently used for traditional semiconductor devices The fabrication of the three-terminal switching device at the level of a single molecule represents an important step towards molecular electronics

Room-temperature transistor based on a single carbon nanotube

The major part of this chapter has already appeared in [1], but because of the length restrictions (in Science), the discussion on why we think this form is given in only brief detail. This chapter goes into more depth to try to answer the questions of why the fullerenes form themselves. This is another example of the very special behavior of carbon. From a chemist’s standpoint, it is carbon’s ability to form multiple bonds that allows it to make these low dimensional forms rather than to produce tetrahedral forms. Carbon can readily accomplish this and it is in the mathematics and physics of the way this universe was put together, that carbon is given this property. One of the consequences of this property is that, if left to its own devices as carbon condenses from the vapor and if the temperature range is just right, above 1000°C, but lower than 1400°C, there is an efficient self-assembly process whose endpoint is C60.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/273/5274/483.full.pdf

Crystalline Ropes of Metallic Carbon Nanotubes

https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/cas_sites/physics/pdf/Ren/p85.pdf

Advances in the science and technology of carbon nanotubes and their composites: a review

Department of Materials Science, University of Patras, 26504 Rio Patras, Greece, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48 Vass. Constantinou Avenue, 116 35 Athens, Greece, Institut de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire, UPR9021 CNRS, Immunologie et Chimie Therapeutiques, 67084 Strasbourg, France, and Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Universita di Trieste, Piazzale Europa 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy

Chemistry of Carbon Nanotubes

Small but strong: A review of the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube–polymer composites

CARBON exhibits a unique ability to form a wide range of structures. In an inert atmosphere it condenses to form hollow, spheroidal fullerenes. Carbon deposited on the hot tip of the cathode of the arc-discharge apparatus used for bulk fullerene synthesis will form nested graphitic tubes and polyhedral particles. Electron irradiation of these nanotubes and polyhedra transforms them into nearly spherical carbon 'onions'. We now report that covaporizing carbon and cobalt in an arc generator leads to the formation of carbon nanotubes which all have very small diameters (about 1.2 nm) and walls only a single atomic layer thick. The tubes form a web-like deposit woven through the fullerene-containing soot, giving it a rubbery texture. The uniformity and single-layer structure of these nanotubes should make it possible to test their properties against theoretical predictions.

Cobalt-catalysed growth of carbon nanotubes with single-atomic-layer walls

We report the discovery of three new phases in the Tl-Ca-Ba-Cu-O system, Tl/sub 1/Ca/sub n//sub -1/Ba/sub 2/Cu/sub n/O/sub 2//sub n//sub +3/ (n = 1,2,3), one of which (n = 3) exhibits bulk superconductivity at approx. =110 K. The crystal structures of these new materials are closely related to that of Tl/sub 2/Ca/sub 2/Ba/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub x/, the recently discovered 125-K superconductor. All of these compounds contain Cu perovskitelike units, but whereas these are separated by bilayer Tl-O sheets in the 125-K material these are separated by monolayer Tl-O sheets in the new structures, enabling an examination of the role played by the coupling between successive Cu perovskite units on superconducting properties.

Tl 1 Ca n − 1 Ba 2 Cu n O 2 n + 3 ( n = 1 , 2 , 3 ): A New Class of Crystal Structures Exhibiting Volume Superconductivity at up to ≃110 K

A chemical-ordering-induced peak in the polar magneto-optical Kerr effect spectra of FePt compounds is found to be in quantitative agreement with predictions based on ab initio magneto-optical calculations. Experimental spectra of epitaxial molecular-beam-epitaxy grown FePt(001) films reveal a more than twofold enhancement of the Kerr rotation if full chemical ordering is present. A spectral feature at 2-eV photon energy shows a peak Kerr rotation of up to \ensuremath{\sim}0.8\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, which is strongly correlated with the presence of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in ordered compound films.

Enhanced magneto-optical Kerr effect in spontaneously ordered FePt alloys: Quantitative agreement between theory and experiment.

We describe the structures and superconducting properties of six compounds in the Tl-Ca-Ba-Cu-O system of the general form, Tl/sub m/Ca/sub inr-1/Ba/sub 2/Cu/sub n/O/sub 2(//sub n//sub +1)+//sub m/, where m = 1 or 2 and n = 1, 2, or 3. One of these compounds displays the highest known superconducting transition temperature, T/sub c/approx. =125 K. The structures of these compounds consist of copper perovskitelike blocks containing 1, 2, or 3 CuO/sub 2/ planes separated by one or two Tl-O layers and thus form a model family of structures in which both the size and separation of the copper oxide blocks can be independently varied. The superconducting transition temperature increase with the number of CuO/sub 2/ planes in the perovskitelike block for both the Tl-O monolayer and bilayer compounds. For each pair of compounds (m = 1,2) with the same number of CuO/sub 2/ planes (same n), the transition temperatures are similar but are consistently 15--20 K lower in the material with single Tl-O layers. Variations in the transition temperatures in the double- and triple-CuO/sub 2/-layer compounds are observed to correlate with increased densities of intergrowths of related structures.

Model family of high-temperature superconductors: TlmCan-1Ba2CunO2(n+1)+m (m=1,2; n=1,2,3).

We report the structural, transport, and magnetic properties of the principal phase responsible for superconductivity in the recently discovered Y-Ba-Cu-O compounds with transition temperatures greater than 90 K.

R. Savoy

Papers

Cobalt-catalysed growth of carbon nanotubes with single-atomic-layer walls

Tl 1 Ca n − 1 Ba 2 Cu n O 2 n + 3 ( n = 1 , 2 , 3 ): A New Class of Crystal Structures Exhibiting Volume Superconductivity at up to ≃110 K

Enhanced magneto-optical Kerr effect in spontaneously ordered FePt alloys: Quantitative agreement between theory and experiment.

Model family of high-temperature superconductors: TlmCan-1Ba2CunO2(n+1)+m (m=1,2; n=1,2,3).

Superconductivity above 90 K in the compound YBa 2 Cu 3 O x : Structural, transport, and magnetic properties