Can carbon nanotube fibers achieve the ultimate conductivity?—Coupled-mode analysis for electron transport through the carbon nanotube contact

Abstract

Recent measurements of carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers electrical conductivity still show the values lower than that of individual CNTs, by about one magnitude order. The imperfections of manufacturing process and constituent components are described as culprits. What if every segment is made perfect? In this work, we study the quantum conductance through the parallel junction of flawless armchair CNTs using tight-binding method in conjunction with non-equilibrium Green's function approach. Short-range oscillations within the long-range oscillations as well as decaying envelopes are all observed in the computed Fermi-level (low bias) conductance as a function of contact length, L. The propagation of CNTs' Bloch waves is cast in the coupled-mode formalism and helps to reveal the quantum interference nature of various behaviors of conductance. Our analysis shows that the Bloch waves at the Fermi-level propagate through a parallel junction without reflection only at an optimal value of contact length. For quite a long junction, however, the conductance at the Fermi level diminishes due to the perturbation of periodic potential field of close-packed CNTs. Thus, a macroscopic fiber, containing an infinite number of junctions, forms a filter that permits passage of electrons with specific wave vectors, and these wave vectors are determined by the collection of all the junction lengths. We also argue that the energy gap introduced by long junctions can be overcome by small voltage (∼0.04 V) across the whole fiber. Overall, developing long individual all-armchair metallic CNTs serves as a promising way to the manufacture of high-conductivity fibers.