Electrical and optical properties of carbon nanotube/polypyrrole addressable intra-connects

Carbon nanotube (CNT) intra-connects (bridges spanning across in-plane electrodes) were electroplated with polypyrrole (PPy), an electrically conductive polymer (ECP). Sharp metal electrodes initiated the CNT growth at pre-selected locations. The CNT bridge was then used as an electrode for conductive polymer electro-deposition. The samples were characterized by Raman spectroscopy and current-voltage measurements. We found that current-gate voltage (I(ds)-V(gs)) characteristics changed dramatically for the electroplated structures when the polymer exceeded a threshold thickness, in the order of 80 nm. In addition, the CNT/PPy structures exhibited large sensitivity to UV radiation: the current substantially reduced upon irradiation with moderate UV intensity values. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.