NORMAN, OK - SouthWest NanoTechnologies (SWeNT^®) has developed a new single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) product with an exceptionally high concentration of semiconducting SWCNT species.

Developed for use in printed semiconductor devices, SG65i is the successor to SWeNT's grade SG65, widely recognized for its quality and consistency, and chosen by NIST as the basis for its standard reference material for SWCNT. Both SG65 and SG65i are produced using the patented CoMoCAT^® process, widely recognized for its unique ability to control SWCNT chirality.

Single-wall carbon nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting, depending on diameter and chirality, a term that relates to the specific structure of the nanotube. SG65i has semiconducting SWCNT typical concentration of >95 percent, as synthesized - that is before expensive or time-consuming secondary operations to reduce metallic SWCNT content. Most other SWCNT have approximately 67 percent semiconducting species as synthesized.

For semiconductors, any significant amount of metallic SWCNT content negates the inherent properties of semiconducting SWCNT. Secondary processes to reduce the metallic SWCNT content are low-yield, slow and expensive, and can damage the remaining SWCNT. The new product will dramatically improve the yield of semiconducting SWCNT, reduce process cost and time, and improve device performance.

"Much outstanding research has been conducted on the use of SWCNT as semiconductor material, with great promise for a range of applications from low-cost, printed TFTs for OLED displays to, in time, the alternative to silicon in high-performance computing," said SWeNT CEO Dave Arthur. "But commercial success has been inhibited by the extraordinary costs of isolating the semiconducting content of typical SWCNT materials. SG65i will enable a new generation of applications based on lower costs and higher performance. Furthermore, we continue to improve our processes to synthesize even more semiconductor-enriched products, with the goal of eliminating secondary processes altogether."

SG65i is available either as dry powder, aqueous or solvent-based dispersions, or as printable ink.