Carbon nanotube (CNT) transistors have been experimentally demonstrated to reach performance comparable to and even surpassing that of silicon transistors. Further improvement requires addressing nonidealities arising from device fabrication that impact performance and reproducibility. One performance metric that determines energy efficiency is the subthreshold swing (SS), which is often observed to be 3–4 times larger than the ideal thermal limit. In this work, we present simulations indicating that a discrete number of variable-occupancy hole trapping sites can explain the large subthreshold swing. Our simulations indicate that while three-dimensional trap distributions influence the subthreshold swing, only the traps in close proximity to the nanotubes have a significant impact. The results suggest that a density of trapping sites on the order of $0.5\text{e}/{\mathrm{nm}}^2$ near the nanotubes is sufficient to significantly increase the subthreshold swing, requiring the removal or passivation of only a few sites per carbon nanotube.

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• Charge
• Quantum transport
• Nanotubes
• Transistors