Coulomb blockade in suspended Si3N4-coated single-walledcarbon nanotubes

Uniform coaxial coating of suspended single-walled carbon nanotubes with high-quality dielectric silicon nitride has been obtained by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. A three-terminal device has been demonstrated by coating a suspended metallic nanotube grown directly on contacting metal electrodes with subsequent patterning of a top gate electrode. Large charging energies have been observed in the suspended nanotubes and the conversion factor from gate voltage to the electrostatic potential in the nanotube approaches unity, which can be attributed to the device geometry.