RESUMO
The electrical transport properties of individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and multi-terminal junctions of CNTs are investigated with a quadraprobe scanning tunneling microscope. The CNTs used in this study are made of stacked herringbone-type conical graphite sheets with a cone angle of â¼20° to the tube axis, and the CNT junctions have no catalytic particles in the junction areas. The CNTs have a significantly higher resistivity than conventional CNTs with concentric walls. The straight CNTs display linear current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, indicating diffusive transport rather than ballistic transport. The structural deformation in CNTs with bends substantially increases the resistivity in comparison with that for the straight segments on the same CNTs, and the I-V curve departs slightly from linearity in curved segments. The junction area of the CNT junctions behaves like an ohmic-type scattering center with linear I-V characteristics. In addition, a gating effect has not been observed, in contrast to the case for conventional multi-walled CNT junctions. These unusual transport properties can be attributed to the enhanced inter-layer interaction in the herringbone-type CNTs.
RESUMO
We describe the development and the capabilities of an advanced system for nanoscale electrical transport studies. This system consists of a low temperature four-probe scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and a high-resolution scanning electron microscope coupled to a molecular-beam epitaxy sample preparation chamber. The four STM probes can be manipulated independently with subnanometer precision, enabling atomic resolution STM imaging and four-point electrical transport study of surface electronic systems and nanostructured materials at temperatures down to 10 K. Additionally, an integrated energy analyzer allows for scanning Auger microscopy to probe chemical species of nanostructures. Some testing results are presented.
