Electronic Transport through Carbon Nanotubes: Effects of Structural Deformation and Tube Chirality

Amitesh Maiti, Alexei Svizhenko, and M. P. Anantram
Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 126805 – Published 11 March 2002
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Abstract

Atomistic simulations using a combination of classical force field and density-functional theory (DFT) show that carbon atoms remain essentially sp2 coordinated in either bent tubes or tubes pushed by an atomically sharp atomic-force microscope (AFM) tip. Subsequent Green's-function-based transport calculations reveal that for armchair tubes there is no significant drop in conductance, while for zigzag tubes the conductance can drop by several orders of magnitude in AFM-pushed tubes. The effect can be attributed to simple stretching of the tube under tip deformation, which opens up an energy gap at the Fermi surface.

  • Received 24 September 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.126805

©2002 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Amitesh Maiti1,*, Alexei Svizhenko2,†, and M. P. Anantram2

  • 1Accelrys Inc., 9685 Scranton Road, San Diego, California 92121
  • 2NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop: T27A-1, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000

  • *Corresponding author. Email address: amaiti@accelrys.com
  • Corresponding author. Email address: svizhenk@nas.nasa.gov

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Issue

Vol. 88, Iss. 12 — 25 March 2002

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