79 research outputs found
Suppression of tunneling into multiwall carbon nanotubes.
We have studied tunneling of electrons into multiwall carbon nanotubes (NTs) in NT-gold and NT-NT junctions, the latter created by atomic force microscope manipulation. The tunneling conductance goes to zero as the energy (temperature and bias) is reduced, and the functional form is consistent with a power law. The exponents depend upon sample geometry. The relationship between these results and theories for tunneling into ballistic and disordered metals is discussed
Electron-hole symmetry in a semiconducting carbon nanotube quantum dot
Optical and electronic phenomena in solids arise from the behaviour of
electrons and holes (unoccupied states in a filled electron sea). Electron-hole
symmetry can often be invoked as a simplifying description, which states that
electrons with energy above the Fermi sea behave the same as holes below the
Fermi energy. In semiconductors, however, electron-hole symmetry is generally
absent since the energy band structure of the conduction band differs from the
valence band. Here we report on measurements of the discrete, quantized-energy
spectrum of electrons and holes in a semiconducting carbon nanotube. Through a
gate, an individual nanotube is filled controllably with a precise number of
either electrons or holes, starting from one. The discrete excitation spectrum
for a nanotube with N holes is strikingly similar to the corresponding spectrum
for N electrons. This observation of near perfect electron-hole symmetry
demonstrates for the first time that a semiconducting nanotube can be free of
charged impurities, even in the limit of few-electrons or holes. We furthermore
find an anomalously small Zeeman spin splitting and an excitation spectrum
indicating strong electron-electron interactions.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Electronic Devices Based on Purified Carbon Nanotubes Grown By High Pressure Decomposition of Carbon Monoxide
The excellent properties of transistors, wires, and sensors made from
single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) make them promising candidates for use
in advanced nanoelectronic systems. Gas-phase growth procedures such as the
high pressure decomposition of carbon monoxide (HiPCO) method yield large
quantities of small diameter semiconducting SWNTs, which are ideal for use in
nanoelectronic circuits. As-grown HiPCO material, however, commonly contains a
large fraction of carbonaceous impurities that degrade properties of SWNT
devices. Here we demonstrate a purification, deposition, and fabrication
process that yields devices consisting of metallic and semiconducting nanotubes
with electronic characteristics vastly superior to those of circuits made from
raw HiPCO. Source-drain current measurements on the circuits as a function of
temperature and backgate voltage are used to quantify the energy gap of
semiconducting nanotubes in a field effect transistor geometry. This work
demonstrates significant progress towards the goal of producing complex
integrated circuits from bulk-grown SWNT material.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Nature Material
Chiral tunneling and the Klein paradox in graphene
The so-called Klein paradox - unimpeded penetration of relativistic particles
through high and wide potential barriers - is one of the most exotic and
counterintuitive consequences of quantum electrodynamics (QED). The phenomenon
is discussed in many contexts in particle, nuclear and astro- physics but
direct tests of the Klein paradox using elementary particles have so far proved
impossible. Here we show that the effect can be tested in a conceptually simple
condensed-matter experiment by using electrostatic barriers in single- and
bi-layer graphene. Due to the chiral nature of their quasiparticles, quantum
tunneling in these materials becomes highly anisotropic, qualitatively
different from the case of normal, nonrelativistic electrons. Massless Dirac
fermions in graphene allow a close realization of Klein's gedanken experiment
whereas massive chiral fermions in bilayer graphene offer an interesting
complementary system that elucidates the basic physics involved.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Half-Metallic Graphene Nanoribbons
Electrical current can be completely spin polarized in a class of materials
known as half-metals, as a result of the coexistence of metallic nature for
electrons with one spin orientation and insulating for electrons with the
other. Such asymmetric electronic states for the different spins have been
predicted for some ferromagnetic metals - for example, the Heusler compounds-
and were first observed in a manganese perovskite. In view of the potential for
use of this property in realizing spin-based electronics, substantial efforts
have been made to search for half-metallic materials. However, organic
materials have hardly been investigated in this context even though
carbon-based nanostructures hold significant promise for future electronic
device. Here we predict half-metallicity in nanometre-scale graphene ribbons by
using first-principles calculations. We show that this phenomenon is realizable
if in-plane homogeneous electric fields are applied across the zigzag-shaped
edges of the graphene nanoribbons, and that their magnetic property can be
controlled by the external electric fields. The results are not only of
scientific interests in the interplay between electric fields and electronic
spin degree of freedom in solids but may also open a new path to explore
spintronics at nanometre scale, based on graphene
Quantum and classical confinement of resonant states in a trilayer graphene Fabry-Pérot interferometer
The advent of few-layer graphene has given rise to a new family of two-dimensional systems with emergent electronic properties governed by relativistic quantum mechanics. The multiple carbon sublattices endow the electronic wavefunctions with pseudospin, a lattice analogue of the relativistic electron spin, whereas the multilayer structure leads to electric-field-effect tunable electronic bands. Here we use these properties to realize giant conductance oscillations in ballistic trilayer graphene Fabry-Pérot interferometers, which result from phase coherent transport through resonant bound states beneath an electrostatic barrier. We confine these states by selectively decoupling them from the leads, resulting in transport via non-resonant states and suppression of the giant oscillations. The confinement is achieved both classically, by manipulating quasiparticle momenta with a magnetic field, and quantum mechanically, by locally varying the pseudospin character of the carrier wavefunctions. Our results illustrate the unique potential of trilayer graphene as a versatile platform for electron optics and pseudospintronics.United States. Office of Naval Research (GATE MURI)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Career Award DMR-0845287)Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (Brazil
Quantum and classical confinement of resonant states in a trilayer graphene Fabry-Pérot interferometer
The advent of few-layer graphene has given rise to a new family of two-dimensional systems with emergent electronic properties governed by relativistic quantum mechanics. The multiple carbon sublattices endow the electronic wavefunctions with pseudospin, a lattice analogue of the relativistic electron spin, whereas the multilayer structure leads to electric-field-effect tunable electronic bands. Here we use these properties to realize giant conductance oscillations in ballistic trilayer graphene Fabry-Pérot interferometers, which result from phase coherent transport through resonant bound states beneath an electrostatic barrier. We confine these states by selectively decoupling them from the leads, resulting in transport via non-resonant states and suppression of the giant oscillations. The confinement is achieved both classically, by manipulating quasiparticle momenta with a magnetic field, and quantum mechanically, by locally varying the pseudospin character of the carrier wavefunctions. Our results illustrate the unique potential of trilayer graphene as a versatile platform for electron optics and pseudospintronics.United States. Office of Naval Research (GATE MURI)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Career Award DMR-0845287)Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (Brazil
Anisotropic behaviors of massless Dirac fermions in graphene under periodic potential
Charge carriers of graphene show neutrino-like linear energy dispersions as
well as chiral behavior near the Dirac point. Here we report highly unusual and
unexpected behaviors of these carriers in applied external periodic potentials,
i.e., in graphene superlattices. The group velocity renormalizes highly
anisotropically even to a degree that it is not changed at all for states with
wavevector in one direction but is reduced to zero in another, implying the
possibility that one can make nanoscale electronic circuits out of graphene not
by cutting it but by drawing on it in a non-destructive way. Also, the type of
charge carrier species (e.g. electron, hole or open orbit) and their density of
states vary drastically with the Fermi energy, enabling one to tune the Fermi
surface-dominant properties significantly with gate voltage. These results
address the fundamental question of how chiral massless Dirac fermions
propagate in periodic potentials and point to a new possible path for nanoscale
electronics.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Tuning the conductance of single-walled carbon nanotubes by ion irradiation in the Anderson localization regime
Carbon nanotubes are a good realization of one-dimensional crystals where
basic science and potential nanodevice applications merge. Defects are known to
modify the electrical resistance of carbon nanotubes. They can be present in
as-grown carbon nanotubes, but controlling externally their density opens a
path towards the tuning of the nanotube electronic characteristics. In this
work consecutive Ar+ irradiation doses are applied to single-walled nanotubes
(SWNTs) producing a uniform density of defects. After each dose, the room
temperature resistance versus SWNT-length [R(L)] along the nanotube is
measured. Our data show an exponential dependence of R(L) indicating that the
system is within the strong Anderson localization regime. Theoretical
simulations demonstrate that mainly di-vacancies contribute to the resistance
increase induced by irradiation and that just a 0.03% of di-vacancies produces
an increase of three orders of magnitude in the resistance of a 400 nm SWNT
length.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
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