Carbon Nanotube Intramolecular Junctions Research Articles

Identifying Defects in Nanoscale Materials

We have developed a novel iterative experimental-theoretical technique which can identify the atomic structure of defects in many-atom nanoscale materials from scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy data. A given model for a defect structure is iteratively improved until calculated microscopy and spectroscopy data based on the model converge on the experimental results. We use the technique to identify a defect responsible for the electronic properties of a carbon nanotube intramolecular junction. Our technique can be extended for analysis of defect structures in nanoscale materials in general.

Electronic and transport properties of radially deformed double-walled carbon nanotube intramolecular junction

The electronic and transport property of a radially deformed double-walled carbon nanotube (DWNT) intramolecular junction (IMJ) has been studied by the tight-binding (TB) model combined with the first-principle calculations. The geometrical structures of the DWNT IMJ have been first optimized in energy by the universal force field (UFF) method. It is found that when heavily squashed, the DWNT will become an insulator-coated metallic wire, and the conductance near the Fermi level has been significantly changed by the radial squash. Specially, several resonance conductance peaks appear at some energies in the conduction band of the squashed DWNT IMJ. Finally, we have also investigated the conductance variation due to change of the length of the central semiconductor in the squashed DWNT IMJ. Furthermore, a promising pure carbon nanoscale electronic device is proposed based on the DWNT IMJ.

Effects of topological defects in the semiconductor carbon nanotube intramolecular junctions

Several intramolecular junctions (IMJs) connecting two semiconductor single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been realized by using the layer-divided technique and introducing the pentagon-heptagon topological defects. The atomic structure of each IMJ is optimized with a combination of density-functional theory (DFT) and the universal force field (UFF) method, based upon which a \(\pi \)-orbital tight-binding calculation is performed on its electronic properties. Obtained results indicate that different topological defects and their distributions on the interfaces of the IMJs have decisive effects on the electronic properties of the IMJs. The specific geometrical defects control the localized defect states chiefly, while the diameters of the SWNTs on both sides are also related to them. The influence on the experimental observation brought by the choice of the scanning line is also presented by comparing the scanning results performed on the defect side with those on the defect-free side. A new IMJ structure has been found, and it probably reflects the real atomic structures of the semiconductor-semiconductor (S-S) IMJ [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 216107 (2003)].

Coherent transport through intramolecular junction of single-wall carbon nanotubes

We have constructed four types single-wall carbon nanotube intramolecular junctions (IMJs) of (5,5)/(8,0), (5,5)/(10,0), (5,5)/(9,0)A, and (5,5)/(9,0)B along a common axis, and calculated their electronic and transport properties using a tight binding-based Green's function approach that is particular suitable for realistic calculation of electronic transport property in extended system. Our results show that quasi-localized states can appear in the metal/semiconductor heterojunctions ((5,5)/(8,0) and (5,5)/(10,0)junctions), which is desirable for the design of a quantum device; and the conductance of M-M IMJs is very sensitive to the connectivity of the matching tubes, certain configurations of connection completely stop the flow of electron, while others permit the transmission of the current through the interface. These results may have implications for the device assembly and manipulation process of all carbon nanotubes-based microelectronic elements.

Ropes of Carbon Nanotubes Intramolecular Junctions

We report on structural and electronic properties investigation of single wall carbon nanotube intramolecular junction (SWCNTIMJ) at room temperature. We find many of junctions are mainly condensed in ropes of diameter 500 nm and length of 1-3 micron. Each junction is characterized as two segments, with different diameters and/or chiralities, seamlessly joined to form a kink of 0° to 45°. Atomically resolved scanning tunnelling spectroscopy measurements verify that each segments can be either metallic (m) or semiconducting (Sc). Armchair-zigzag, (M-S) type, seem to be the most dominant junctions in our arc discharge samples. The existence of relatively large amount of these junctions may raise hope that a control of nanotube growth might be close to reality.

Atomically resolved single-walled carbon nanotube intramolecular junctions.

Intramolecular junctions in single-walled carbon nanotubes are potentially ideal structures for building robust, molecular-scale electronics but have only been studied theoretically at the atomic level. Scanning tunneling microscopy was used to determine the atomic structure and electronic properties of such junctions in single-walled nanotube samples. Metal-semiconductor junctions are found to exhibit an electronically sharp interface without localized junction states, whereas a more diffuse interface and low-energy states are found in metal-metal junctions. Tight-binding calculations for models based on observed atomic structures show good agreement with spectroscopy and provide insight into the topological defects forming intramolecular junctions. These studies have important implications for applications of present materials and provide a means for assessing efforts designed to tailor intramolecular junctions for nanoelectronics.