Conductivity and Atomic Structure of Isolated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

TL;DR

This study combines microscopy and transport measurements to explore how atomic structure influences electrical behavior in isolated multiwalled carbon nanotubes, revealing structural defects' impact on conductivity and quantum effects at low temperatures.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the relationship between atomic structure, defects, and electrical properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes using combined microscopy and transport analysis.

Findings

Structural defects correlate with non-Ohmic behavior.

Most conductive nanotubes show a resistance maximum at 0.6 K.

Strong positive magnetoresistance observed at low temperatures.

Abstract

We report associated high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and transport measurements on a series of isolated multiwalled carbon nanotubes. HRTEM observations, by revealing relevant structural features of the tubes, shed some light on the variety of observed transport behaviors, from semiconducting to quasi-metallic type. Non Ohmic behavior is observed for certain samples which exhibit "bamboo like" structural defects. The resistance of the most conducting sample, measured down to 20 mK, exhibits a pronounced maximum at 0.6 K and strong positive magnetoresistance.