1,985 research outputs found
Negative differential resistance in nanotube devices
Carbon nanotube junctions are predicted to exhibit negative differential
resistance, with very high peak-to-valley current ratios even at room
temperature. We treat both nanotube p-n junctions and undoped
metal-nanotube-metal junctions, calculating quantum transport through the
self-consistent potential within a tight-binding approximation. The undoped
junctions in particular may be suitable for device integration.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review Letter
Multiple Functionality in Nanotube Transistors
Calculations of quantum transport in a carbon nanotube transistor show that
such a device offers unique functionality. It can operate as a ballistic
field-effect transistor, with excellent characteristics even when scaled to 10
nm dimensions. At larger gate voltages, channel inversion leads to resonant
tunneling through an electrostatically defined nanoscale quantum dot. Thus the
transistor becomes a gated resonant tunelling device, with negative
differential resistance at a tunable threshold. For the dimensions considered
here, the device operates in the Coulomb blockade regime, even at room
temperature.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Van Hove Singularities in disordered multichannel quantum wires and nanotubes
We present a theory for the van Hove singularity (VHS) in the tunneling
density of states (TDOS) of disordered multichannel quantum wires, in
particular multi-wall carbon nanotubes. We assume close-by gates which screen
off electron-electron interactions. Diagrammatic perturbation theory within a
non-crossing approximation yields analytical expressions governing the
disorder-induced broadening and shift of VHS's as new subbands are opened. This
problem is nontrivial because the (lowest-order) Born approximation breaks down
close to the VHS. Interestingly, compared to the bulk case, the boundary TDOS
shows drastically altered VHS, even in the clean limit.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted with revisions in PR
Subband population in a single-wall carbon nanotube diode
We observe current rectification in a molecular diode consisting of a
semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotube and an impurity. One half of the
nanotube has no impurity, and it has a current-voltage (I-V) charcteristic of a
typical semiconducting nanotube. The other half of the nanotube has the
impurity on it, and its I-V characteristic is that of a diode. Current in the
nanotube diode is carried by holes transported through the molecule's
one-dimensional subbands. At 77 Kelvin we observe a step-wise increase in the
current through the diode as a function of gate voltage, showing that we can
control the number of occupied one-dimensional subbands through electrostatic
doping.Comment: to appear in Physical Review Letters. 4 pages & 3 figure
Conductance of carbon nanotubes with disorder: A numerical study
We study the conductance of carbon nanotube wires in the presence of
disorder, in the limit of phase coherent transport. For this purpose, we have
developed a simple numerical procedure to compute transmission through carbon
nanotubes and related structures. Two models of disorder are considered, weak
uniform disorder and isolated strong scatterers. In the case of weak uniform
disorder, our simulations show that the conductance is not significantly
affected by disorder when the Fermi energy is close to the band center.
Further, the transmission around the band center depends on the diameter of
these zero bandgap wires. We also find that the calculated small bias
conductance as a function of the Fermi energy exhibits a dip when the Fermi
energy is close to the second subband minima. In the presence of strong
isolated disorder, our calculations show a transmission gap at the band center,
and the corresponding conductance is very small
Size Effects in Carbon Nanotubes
The inter-shell spacing of multi-walled carbon nanotubes was determined by
analyzing the high resolution transmission electron microscopy images of these
nanotubes. For the nanotubes that were studied, the inter-shell spacing
is found to range from 0.34 to 0.39 nm, increasing with
decreasing tube diameter. A model based on the results from real space image
analysis is used to explain the variation in inter-shell spacings obtained from
reciprocal space periodicity analysis. The increase in inter-shell spacing with
decreased nanotube diameter is attributed to the high curvature, resulting in
an increased repulsive force, associated with the decreased diameter of the
nanotube shells.Comment: 4 pages. RevTeX. 4 figure
van der Waals interaction in nanotube bundles : consequences on vibrational modes
We have developed a pair-potential approach for the evaluation of van der
Waals interaction between carbon nanotubes in bundles.
Starting from a continuum model, we show that the intertube modes range from
to . Using a non-orthogonal tight-binding approximation
for describing the covalent intra-tube bonding in addition, we confirme a
slight chiral dependance of the breathing mode frequency and we found that this
breathing mode frequency increase by 10 % if the nanotube lie inside a
bundle as compared to the isolated tube.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Aharonov-Bohm spectral features and coherence lengths in carbon nanotubes
The electronic properties of carbon nanotubes are investigated in the
presence of disorder and a magnetic field parallel or perpendicular to the
nanotube axis. In the parallel field geometry, the -periodic
metal-insulator transition (MIT) induced in metallic or semiconducting
nanotubes is shown to be related to a chirality-dependent shifting of the
energy of the van Hove singularities (VHSs). The effect of disorder on this
magnetic field-related mechanism is considered with a discussion of mean free
paths, localization lengths and magnetic dephasing rate in the context of
recent experiments.Comment: 22 pages, 6 Postscript figures. submitted to Phys. Rev.
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