Contact phenomena in carbon nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper explores how the poor screening of Coulomb interactions in one-dimensional carbon nanotubes leads to unique contact phenomena, with charge density decaying slowly from the contact point, affecting experimental observations.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of charge distribution near contacts in carbon nanotubes, highlighting differences from conventional metal contacts due to long-range Coulomb effects.

Findings

Charge density decays slowly with distance from the contact.

Contrasts with exponential decay in metal-metal contacts.

Implications for experimental measurements of nanotube contacts.

Abstract

Poor screening of the long-range Coulomb interaction in one-dimensional carbon nanotubes results in a peculiar picture of contact phenomena. Being brought to a contact with a metal, conducting nanotube accumulates electric charge whose density decays slowly with the distance from the contact. This should be contrasted to a conventional metal-metal contact where the charge density decreases exponentially at atomic distances. Implications for experiments are discussed.