HOBOKEN , N.J. -- Eui-Hyeok Yang, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, has received a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for nanoelectronics research based on carbon nanotube quantum dots. Yang will serve as the Principle Investigator on the project, titled, “ Ultra-High-Speed Single Electron Memory Devices based on Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dots.”

“New analog and digital electronic devices based on single electron behavior are considered strong candidates to replace silicon transistors in future ultra-dense, low-power, high-speed electronics. Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) possess enormous potential to facilitate superior single electron transport functionality due to unique properties such as high electron charging energy, short electron traversal time and high thermal conductivity. Despite the promise of vastly superior performance of CNT structures, several fundamental issues in the fabrication and characterization need to be researched and resolved for single electron memory applications,” said Yang.

The research team will exploit novel in-plane CNT structures and investigate their quantized electron energy properties for future high-speed, low-power electronics applications. Of particular importance, the precisely fabricated CNT arrays will enable single electron memory states with high electron charging energies stable up to room temperature, which is critical for future high-speed, ultra-low power memory applications for DoD.

The project team consists of three faculty members from Stevens, Professors Yang and Frank Fisher of Mechanical Engineering, along with Stefan Strauf, Assistant Professor in the Physics and Engineering Physics department. Professor Dan Choi at the University of Idaho will also participate in the project.