Integrated nanotube and field effect switching device
First Claim
1. An integrated switching device, comprising:
- a signal input terminal;
an output terminal; and
a control structure including at least one control input terminal, electrical stimulation of said control structure controlling formation of a controllably-formable electrically conductive channel between the signal input terminal and the output terminal, a first portion of the electrically conductive channel including a nanotube channel element and a second portion of the electrically conductive channel including a field modulatable semiconductor channel element, wherein the integrated switching device is volatile.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Hybrid switching devices integrate nanotube switching elements with field effect devices, such as NFETs and PFETs. A switching device forms and unforms a conductive channel from the signal input to the output subject to the relative state of the control input. In embodiments of the invention, the conductive channel includes a nanotube channel element and a field modulatable semiconductor channel element. The switching device may include a nanotube switching element and a field effect device electrically disposed in series. According to one aspect of the invention, an integrated switching device is a four-terminal device with a signal input terminal, a control input terminal, a second input terminal, and an output terminal. The devices may be non-volatile. The devices can form the basis for a hybrid NT-FET logic family and can be used to implement any Boolean logic circuit.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. An integrated switching device, comprising:
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a signal input terminal; an output terminal; and a control structure including at least one control input terminal, electrical stimulation of said control structure controlling formation of a controllably-formable electrically conductive channel between the signal input terminal and the output terminal, a first portion of the electrically conductive channel including a nanotube channel element and a second portion of the electrically conductive channel including a field modulatable semiconductor channel element, wherein the integrated switching device is volatile.
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2. An integrated switching device, comprising:
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a signal input terminal; an output terminal; and a control structure including at least one control input terminal, electrical stimulation of said control structure controlling formation of a controllably-formable electrically conductive channel between the signal input terminal and the output terminal, a first portion of the electrically conductive channel including a nanotube channel element and a second portion of the electrically conductive channel including a field modulatable semiconductor channel element, wherein the control structure comprises a first control input terminal and a second control input terminal, and wherein the formation of the first portion of the electrically conductive channel is controlled by both the first and second control input terminals and the formation of the second portion of the electrically conductive channel is controlled by only the first control input terminal.
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3. An integrated switching device, comprising:
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a signal input terminal; an output terminal; a nanotube switching element, including a nanotube channel element formed of at least one nanotube, and a nanotube input electrode for providing a signal to the nanotube channel element, the nanotube input electrode being electrically connected to said signal input terminal, and a nanotube output electrode for receiving a signal from the nanotube channel element when the nanotube channel element is activated; a field effect device having a source, a drain, and a gate, with a field modulatable channel between the source and the drain, the source being electrically connected to the output electrode of the nanotube switching element and the drain being electrically connected to said output terminal; and a control structure comprising at least one control input terminal to control formation of a controllably-formable conductive channel between said signal input terminal and said output terminal, a first portion of the conductive channel being formed by the nanotube channel element of the nanotube switching element, and a second portion of the conductive channel being formed by the field modulatable channel of the field effect device, wherein the device is volatile.
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4. An integrated switching device, comprising:
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a signal input terminal; an output terminal; a network of at least one nanotube switching element electrically disposed between said signal input terminal and said output terminal; a network of at least one field effect device electrically disposed between said signal input terminal and said output terminal, said network of at least one field effect device being electrically in series with said network of at least one nanotube switching element; and a control structure to control formation of a controllably-formable conductive channel between said signal input terminal and said output terminal, a first portion of the conductive channel being provided by a conductive path formed by the network of at least one nanotube switching element and a second portion of the conductive channel being provided by a conductive path formed by the network of at least one field effect device, wherein the device is volatile.
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5. A Boolean logic circuit, comprising:
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at least one input terminal and an output terminal; a network of pull-up and pull-down circuits electrically disposed between the at least one input terminal and the output terminal; each pull-up circuit including at least one nanotube switching element and at least one p-channel field effect device connected in series; and each pull-down circuit including at least one nanotube switching element and at least one n-channel field effect device connected in series; said network of pull-up and pull-down circuits effectuating a Boolean function transformation of Boolean signals applied to said at least one input terminal and providing the Boolean result on the output terminal. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A logical inverter circuit, comprising:
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electrical control signal inputs including a first and a second input; a field modulatable semiconductor channel element having a drain, a source, and a gate, with a field modulatable channel between the source and the drain; and
,a nanotube switching element including an input node, an output node, a nanotube channel element having at least one electrically conductive nanotube, and a control structure disposed in relation to the nanotube channel element to controllably form and unform an electrically conductive channel between said input node and said output node wherein said channel at least includes said nanotube channel element, wherein the gate of the field modulatable semiconductor channel element is connected to one of the first and the second inputs, wherein the control structure of the nanotube switching element is connected to both of the first and the second inputs, wherein the output of the nanotube switching element is connected to one of the drain and source of the field modulatable semiconductor channel element, and wherein the other of the drain and the source defines an output terminal for the logical inverter circuit. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A dual rail input, single rail output logic circuit comprising:
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electrical control signal inputs including a first and a second input rail; a network of at least one field modulatable semiconductor channel element, each of said at least one field modulatable semiconductor channel element having a drain, a source, a gate, and a field modulatable channel between the source and the drain; a network of at least one nanotube switching element, each of said at least one nanotube switching elements including an input node, an output node, a nanotube channel having at least one electrically conductive nanotube, and a control structure disposed in relation to the nanotube channel element to controllably form and unform an electrically conductive channel between said input node and said output node, wherein said electrically conductive channel at least includes said nanotube channel element, wherein the gate of each of the at least one field modulatable semiconductor channel elements is connected to one of the first and the second input rails, wherein the control structure of each of the at least one nanotube switching elements is connected to both the first and the second input rail, wherein the output of each nanotube switching element is connected to one of the drain and the source of at least one field modulatable semiconductor channel element, and wherein the other of the drain and the source defines an output rail for the logical inverter circuit. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification