Theoretical study of four-probe resistance in nanoscale measurements: Monatomic carbon chains and (5,5)-carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Simulations of four-probe resistance measurements of monatomic carbon chains and (5,5)-carbon nanotubes were carried out using the self-consistent charge density-functional tight-binding method and the Green's function method. The four-probe resistance spectra show oscillations depending on the probe geometries and become negative at specific electron energies. These features coincide qualitatively with those experimentally observed by Gao et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 196802 (2005)]. It is shown that the resistance oscillations can be attributed to the interference of electron waves between the two voltage probes.