Universal crossover of the charge carrier fluctuation mechanism in different polymer/carbon nanotubes composites

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes added to polymer and epoxy matrices are compounds of interest for applications in electronics and aerospace. The realization of high-performance devices based on these materials can profit from the investigation of their electric noise properties, as this gives a more detailed insight of the basic charge carriers transport mechanisms at work. The dc and electrical noise characteristics of different polymer/carbon nanotubes composites have been analyzed from 10 to 300 K. The results suggest that all these systems can be regarded as random resistive networks of tunnel junctions formed by adjacent carbon nanotubes. However, in the high-temperature regime, contributions deriving from other possible mechanisms cannot be separated using dc information alone. A transition from a fluctuation-induced tunneling process to a thermally activated regime is instead revealed by electric noise spectroscopy. In particular, a crossover is found from a two-level tunneling mechanism, operating at low temperatures, to resistance fluctuations of a percolative network, in the high-temperature region. The observed behavior of 1/f noise seems to be a general feature for highly conductive samples, independent on the type of polymer matrix and on the nanotube density.