Perfectly conducting channel and its robustness in disordered carbon nanostructures

TL;DR

This study numerically investigates how dephasing affects perfectly conducting channels in disordered carbon nanostructures, revealing contrasting robustness in graphene nanoribbons and carbon nanotubes due to their different PCC natures.

Contribution

It demonstrates that dephasing destroys PCC in carbon nanotubes but stabilizes it in graphene nanoribbons, highlighting the different underlying mechanisms.

Findings

PCC in GNR is robust against dephasing.

PCC in CNT is destroyed by dephasing.

Opposing responses are due to different PCC natures.

Abstract

We report our recent numerical study on the effects of dephasing on a perfectly conducting channel (PCC), its presence believed to be dominant in the transport characteristics of a zigzag graphene nanoribbons (GNR) and of a metallic carbon nanotubes (CNT). Our data confirms an earlier prediction that a PCC in GNR exhibits a peculiar robustness against dephasing, in contrast to that of the CNT. By studying the behavior of the conductance as a function of the system's length we show that dephasing destroys the PCC in CNT, whereas it stabilizes the PCC in GNR. Such opposing responses of the PCC against dephasing stem from a different nature of the PCC in these systems.