A thin film transistor having a channel region including a nanoconductor layer. The nanoconductor layer can be a dispersed monolayer of nanotubes or nanowires formed of carbon. The thin film transistor generally includes a gate terminal insulated by a dielectric layer. The nanoconductor layer is placed on the dielectric layer and a layer of semiconductor material is developed over the nanoconductor layer to form the channel region of the thin film transistor. A drain terminal and a source terminal are then formed on the semiconductor layer. At low field effect levels, the operation of the thin film transistor is dominated by the semiconductor layer, which provides good leakage current performance. At high field effect levels, the charge transfer characteristics of the channel region are enhanced by the nanoconductor layer such that the effective mobility of the thin film transistor is enhanced.