Intrinsic region length scaling of heavily doped carbon nanotube p–i–n junctions

Abstract

We investigated the dependence of the transport properties of heavily doped intratube single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) p–i–n junctions on the length of the intrinsic region by using empirical self-consistent quantum transport simulations. When the length of the intrinsic region is scaled from a few angstroms to over 10 nanometers, the SWCNT p–i–n junction evolves from a tunneling diode with a large negative rectification and large negative differential resistance to one with a large positive rectification (like a conventional positive rectifying diode). The critical length of the intrinsic length is about 8.0 nm. Therefore, one can obtain nanoscale diodes of different performance types by changing the intrinsic region length.