Transport theory of carbon nanotube Y junctions

TL;DR

This paper extends Landauer-Büttiker theory to interacting metallic carbon nanotube networks, providing solutions for symmetric and asymmetric Y junctions, and analyzing their stability and fixed points.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized transport theory for nanotube junctions, including methods for asymmetric systems and detailed analysis for Y junctions.

Findings

Symmetric Y junctions have a stable fixed point at an isolated node.

Asymmetric systems require perturbative and non-perturbative methods.

For N>2, the symmetric fixed point is an isolated node.

Abstract

We describe a generalization of Landauer-B\"uttiker theory for networks of interacting metallic carbon nanotubes. We start with symmetric starlike junctions and then extend our approach to asymmetric systems. While the symmetric case is solved in closed form, the asymmetric situation is treated by a mix of perturbative and non-perturbative methods. For N>2 repulsively interacting nanotubes, the only stable fixed point of the symmetric system corresponds to an isolated node. Detailed results for both symmetric and asymmetric systems are shown for N=3, corresponding to carbon nanotube Y junctions.