Carbon-carbon contacts for robust nanoelectromechanical switches.

Nanoelectromechanical devices exhibiting dramatically improved robustness through novel material selection are demonstrated. A unique combination of carbon nanotube active elements and conductive diamond-like carbon contact electrodes results in reliable switching performance not found in devices with ubiquitously-used metal thin film electrodes. This in turn represents a viable means to improve the reliability of a diverse, and widely-pursued class of nanoscale devices ranging from single-nanostructure switches to massively parallel arrays.