Imaging the interlayer interactions of multiwall carbon nanotubes using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy

Abstract

Using atomically-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we probe the nature of interwall interactions within multiwall carbon nanotubes at room temperature. We find that, at low bias voltages, the tunnel current depends strongly on the atomic position, introducing visibility differences between adjacent lattice sites. Since all atoms are equally visible in analogous measurements on single-wall nanotubes, we conclude that these modulations are introduced by the interwall interactions and provide unique information about the stacking nature.