Simulation of STM technique for electron transport through boron-nitride nanotubes

Abstract

We report first-principles calculations on the electrical transport properties of boron-nitrid nanotubes (BNNTs). We consider a single walled ( 5 , 0 ) boron-nitrid nanotube sandwiched between an Au(1 0 0) substrate and a monatomic Au scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip. Lateral motion of the tip over the nanotube wall cause it to change from one conformation class to the others and to switch between a strongly and a weakly conducting state. Thus, surprisingly, despite their apparent simplicity these Au/BNNT/Au nanowires are shown to be a convenient switch. Experiments with a conventional STM are proposed to test these predictions. The projection of the density of states (PDOS) and the transmission coefficients T ( E ) of the two-probe systems at zero bias are analyzed, and it suggests that the variation of the coupling between the wire and the electrodes leads to switching behaviour.