Single-Electron Transport in Ropes of Carbon Nanotubes

M Bockrath; DH Cobden; PL McEuen; NG Chopra; A Zettl; A Thess; RE Smalley

doi:10.1126/science.275.5308.1922

Single-Electron Transport in Ropes of Carbon Nanotubes

Science. 1997 Mar 28;275(5308):1922-5. doi: 10.1126/science.275.5308.1922.

Authors

M Bockrath¹, DH Cobden, PL McEuen, NG Chopra, A Zettl, A Thess, RE Smalley

Affiliation

¹ M. Bockrath, D. H. Cobden, P. L. McEuen, N. G. Chopra, A. Zettl, Molecular Design Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. A. Thess and R. E. Smalley, Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice Quantum Institute, and Departments of Chemistry and Physics, Mail Stop 100, Rice University, Post Office Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251, USA.

PMID: 9072967
DOI: 10.1126/science.275.5308.1922

Abstract

The electrical properties of individual bundles, or "ropes," of single-walled carbon nanotubes have been measured. Below about 10 kelvin, the low-bias conductance was suppressed for voltages less than a few millivolts. In addition, dramatic peaks were observed in the conductance as a function of a gate voltage that modulated the number of electrons in the rope. These results are interpreted in terms of single-electron charging and resonant tunneling through the quantized energy levels of the nanotubes composing the rope.