Homochiral carbon nanotube van der Waals crystals.

Zhang, Zhichun; Chen, Yi; Shen, Peiyue; Chen, Jiajun; Wang, Sen; Wang, Bo; Ma, Saiqun; Lyu, Bosai et al. · Science · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

For applications of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in integrated circuits, it is crucial to have high-tube density arrays of SWNTs that are well aligned and purely semiconducting. In this work, we report on the direct growth of close-packed SWNT arrays on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) substrates, demonstrating high alignment and uniform chirality within each array. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that a self-assembly growth mechanism resulted from the intertube van der Waals attraction and the ultralow sliding friction of SWNTs on the atomically flat hBN substrate. Field-effect transistors constructed from the grown SWNT array exhibit high performance at room temperature, with mobilities of up to 2000 square centimeters per volt per second, on/off ratios of ~10<sup>7</sup>, and a maximum current density of ~6 milliamperes per micrometer.