A model is proposed for two observed current–voltage (I – V) patterns in a recent experiment with a scanning tunneling microscope tip and a carbon nanotube @Collins et al., Science 278, 100 ~1997!#. We claim that there are two mechanical contact modes for a tip ~metal!–nanotube ~semiconductor! junction ~1! with or ~2! without a tiny vacuum gap ~0.1–0.2 nm!. With the tip grounded, the tunneling ...

Carbon nanotube transistors combine molecular-scale dimensions with excellent electronic properties, offering unique opportunities for chemical and biological sensing. Here, we form supported lipid bilayers over single-walled carbon nanotube transistors. We first study the physical properties of the nanotube/supported lipid bilayer structure using fluorescence techniques. Whereas lipid molecule...

In this paper, we applied self-aligned T-gate design to aligned carbon nanotube array transistors and achieved an extrinsic current-gain cutoff frequency (ft) of 25 GHz, which is the best on-chip performance for nanotube radio frequency (RF) transistors reported to date. Meanwhile, an intrinsic current-gain cutoff frequency up to 102 GHz is obtained, comparable to the best value reported for na...

The elastic moduli of polymer-carbon nanotube composites are examined by molecular dynamics simulations of a single-walled carbon nanotube embedded in polyethylene. The overall system is modeled with a many-body bond order potential due to Brenner. Alternatively, only the carbon nanotube is modeled with Brenner’s potential and the polyethylene matrix is modeled by a united-atom potential. For t...

We study the geometry-dependent resistivity scaling in single-walled carbon nanotube films as a function of nanotube and device parameters using Monte Carlo simulations. We first demonstrate that these simulations can model and fit recent experimental results on the scaling of nanotube film resistivity with device width. Furthermore, we systematically study the effect of four parameters; namely...

The use of carbon nanotubes for field effect nanoelectronic devices, which has been recently demonstrated, motivates further studies of electrochemical and chemical analogues of nanotube molecular transistors. However, chemical gating is not applicable for modern electronics due to its slow response. Herein we propose a novel molecular electronic device: Nanotube LightControlled Switch (NLCS). ...

We have investigated conditions for making nanoindents on a polycarbonate using a carbon nanotube tip in terms of structural stability of the nanotube tip. Even under a weak force of ∼ 50 nN acting in the axial direction to the nanotube, the indents with mean depth of 3.91 nm were successfully realized on the polycarbonate in air at room temperature. In this case, there were no structural chang...

We report a method to controllably alter the diameter of an individual carbon nanotube. The combination of defect formation via electron irradiation and simultaneous resistive heating and electromigration in vacuum causes the nanotube to continuously transform into a high-quality nanotube of successively smaller diameter, as observed by transmission electron microscopy. The process can be halte...

The influence of flexible walls on the self-diffusion of CH4 in an isolated single walled carbon nanotube, as an example, is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. By simulating the carbon nanotube as a flexible framework we demonstrate that the flexibility has a crucial influence on self-diffusion at low loadings. We show how this influence can be incorporated in a simulation of a rigid na...

The changes of dynamical behaviour of a single fullerene molecule inside an armchair carbon nanotube caused by the structural Peierls transition in the nanotube are considered. The structures of the smallest C20 and Fe@C20 fullerenes are computed using the spin-polarized density functional theory. Significant changes of the barriers for motion along the nanotube axis and rotation of these fulle...