Under one aspect, a field effect device includes a gate, a source, and a drain, with a conductive channel between the source and the drain; and a nanotube switch having a corresponding control terminal, said nanotube switch being positioned to control electrical conduction through said conductive channel. Under another aspect, a field effect device includes a gate having a corresponding gate terminal; a source having a corresponding source terminal; a drain having a corresponding drain terminal; a control terminal; and a nanotube switching element positioned between one of the gate, source, and drain and its corresponding terminal and switchable, in response to electrical stimuli at the control terminal and at least one of the gate, source, and drain terminals, between a first non-volatile state that enables current flow between the source and the drain and a second non-volatile state that disables current flow between the source and the drain.