Resonant optical gating of suspended carbon nanotube transistor

Building smaller transistors with enhanced functionality is critical in extending the limits of Moores law and meeting the demands of the electronics industry. Here we demonstrate transistor operation in a suspended single carbon nanotube (CNT) using feedback-enabled radiation pressure of a near-field focused laser that enabled significant changes in conductivity of the CNT. Further, using in-situ tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, we show that the change in conductivity of over five orders in magnitude is accompanied by self-induced defect states within the CNT. The entire structure is less than 10 nm in dimension and shows promise of scalability. This is a novel method for achieving logic operations at the nanoscale.