Evidence for Luttinger liquid behavior in crossed metallic single-wall nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper provides experimental and theoretical evidence that crossed metallic single-wall nanotubes exhibit Luttinger liquid behavior, with electrostatic interactions influencing transport properties, supported by a simplified model fitting experimental data.

Contribution

It demonstrates the presence of Luttinger liquid behavior in crossed nanotubes and models the electrostatic coupling effects with a simplified theoretical approach.

Findings

Zero-bias anomaly suppressed by current in the other nanotube

Electrostatic interaction via crossing-induced backscattering is key

Model qualitatively matches experimental data with one adjustable parameter

Abstract

Experimental and theoretical results for transport through crossed metallic single-wall nanotubes are presented. We observe a zero-bias anomaly in one tube which is suppressed by a current flowing through the other nanotube. The phenomenon is shown to be consistent with the picture of strongly correlated electrons within the Luttinger liquid model. The most relevant coupling between the nanotubes is the electrostatic interaction generated via crossing-induced backscattering processes. Explicit solution of a simplified model is able to describe qualitatively the observed experimental data with only one adjustable parameter.