High-field transport and thermal reliability of sorted carbon nanotube network devices.

We examine the high-field operation, power dissipation, and thermal reliability of sorted carbon nanotube network (CNN) devices, with <1% to >99% semiconducting nanotubes. We combine systematic electrical measurements with infrared (IR) thermal imaging and detailed Monte Carlo simulations to study high-field transport up to CNN failure by unzipping-like breakdown. We find that metallic CNNs carry peak current densities up to an order of magnitude greater than semiconducting CNNs at comparable nanotube densities.