The development of next-generation wireless communication technology requires integrated radiofrequency devices capable of operating at frequencies greater than 90 GHz. Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors are promising for such applications, but key performance metrics, including operating frequency, at present fall below theoretical predictions. Here we report radiofrequency transistors based on high-purity carbon nanotube arrays that are fabricated using a double-dispersion sorting and binary liquid interface aligning process. The nanotube arrays exhibit a density of approximately 120 nanotubes per micrometre, a maximum carrier mobility of 1,580 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and a saturation velocity of up to 3.0 × 10⁷ cm s⁻¹. The resulting field-effect transistors offer high d.c. performance (on-state current of 1.92 mA µm⁻¹ and peak transconductance of 1.40 mS μm⁻¹ at a bias of −0.9 V) for operation at millimetre-wave and terahertz frequencies. Transistors with a 50 nm gate length show current-gain and power-gain cutoff frequencies of up to 540 and 306 GHz, respectively, and radiofrequency amplifiers can exhibit a high power gain (23.2 dB) and inherent linearity (31.2 dBm output power of the third-order intercept point) in the K-band (18 GHz).

下一代无线通信技术的发展需要能够在高于 90 GHz 的频率下工作的集成射频设备。碳纳米管场效应晶体管在此类应用中很有前景，但包括工作频率在内的关键性能指标目前低于理论预测。在这里，我们报告了基于高纯度碳纳米管阵列的射频晶体管，这些阵列是使用双分散分选和二元液体界面对准工艺制造的。纳米管阵列的密度约为每微米 120 个纳米管，最大载流子迁移率为 1,580 cm ²  V ^-1  s ^-1和高达 3.0 × 10 ⁷  cm s ^{-1的饱和速度}. 由此产生的场效应晶体管提供高直流性能（1.92 mA µm ^-1的通态电流和-0.9 V 偏置下的1.40 mS µm ^-1峰值跨导），可在毫米波和太赫兹频率下工作。具有 50 nm 栅极长度的晶体管分别显示高达 540 和 306 GHz 的电流增益和功率增益截止频率，射频放大器可以表现出高功率增益 (23.2 dB) 和固有线性度 (31.2 dBm 的输出功率)三阶截点）在 K 波段（18 GHz）。