Effects of Finite Deformed Length in Carbon Nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the length of deformation in carbon nanotubes influences their electronic properties, demonstrating the formation of heterojunctions and proposing nanoscale device designs based on quantum tunneling effects.

Contribution

It reveals the critical deformed length needed for heterojunction formation in nanotubes and explains this via quantum tunneling, offering new design concepts for nanoscale devices.

Findings

Longer deformed lengths enable heterojunction formation.

Quantum tunneling explains the finite length effect.

Proposed nanoscale device concepts based on heterojunctions.

Abstract

The effect of finite deformed length is demonstrated by squashing an armchair (10,10) single-walled carbon nanotube with two finite tips. Only when the deformed length is long enough, an effectual metal-semiconductor-metal heterojunction can be formed in the metallic tube. The effect of finite deformed length is explained by the quantum tunnelling effect. Furthermore, some conceptual designs of nanoscale devices are proposed from the metal-semiconductor-metal heterojunction.