GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of General Electric (NYSE: GE), announced the development of a carbon nanotube diode that operates at the “theoretical limit,” or best possible performance. This is a significant improvement upon the original nanotube diode device that GE developed and announced last year. This latest breakthrough will enable even smaller and faster electronic devices with increased functionality. In the course of its research, the GE team led by Dr. Ji Ung Lee made a related discovery when it observed a photovoltaic effect in the nanotube diode device. GE says this development could lead to new approaches and breakthroughs in photovoltaic research.
GE reported its discovery in the cover story of the August 15, 2005 edition of Applied Physics Letters.
“GE’s success in developing the ‘perfect’ carbon nanotube device has not only ushered in a new era in electronics, it has potentially opened new doors in solar energy research,” said Margaret Blohm, GE’s advanced technology leader for nanotechnology. “The discovery of a photovoltaic effect in our nanotube device could lead to exciting breakthroughs in solar cells that make them more efficient and a more viable alternative in the mainstream energy market.
Diodes are fundamental semiconductor devices that form the basic building blocks of electronic devices, such as transistors, computer chips, sensors, and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Unlike traditional diodes, GE’s carbon nanotube device has the ability to perform multiple functions – as a diode and two different types of transistors – which should enable it to both emit and detect light.
In addition to opening new doors in photovoltaics research, GE’s carbon nanotube diode device could have many applications in computing, communications, power electronics and sensors.
Despite being some 1000 times smaller than the wavelength of light, the carbon nanotube diodes showed significant power conversion efficiencies owing to the enhanced properties of an ideal diode.
The carbon nanotube diode was developed by a team led by Dr. Ji Ung Lee, a Micro- and Nano-Structures Technologies scientist who works in the Nanotechnology Advanced Technology Program at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, N.Y.
The full technical paper about this research is available in the August 15, 2005 issue of Applied Physics Letters or online at:
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