Boosting electronic transport in carbon nanotubes by isotopic disorder

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that isotopic disorder in carbon nanotubes enhances electronic transport by facilitating hot-phonon deexcitation, reducing resistivity at high bias, which is a novel use of disorder to improve conductivity.

Contribution

It introduces isotopic enrichment as a method to improve high-bias electrical performance in metallic carbon nanotubes by promoting hot-phonon deexcitation.

Findings

Isotopic disorder reduces high-bias differential resistance.

C13 enrichment creates additional hot-phonon deexcitation channels.

Disorder improves electronic transport in CNTs.

Abstract

The current/voltage curve of metallic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) displays at high bias a sudden increase of the resistivity due to the scattering of electrons with phonons having an anomalously-high population (hot phonons). Here, we show that it is possible to improve the electrical performances of metallic CNTs by C13 isotope enrichment. In fact, isotopic disorder creates additional channels for the hot-phonon deexcitation, reduces their population and, thus, the nanotube high-bias differential-resistance. This is an extraordinary case where disorder improves the electronic transport.