Impact of carbon nanotube length on electron transport in aligned carbon nanotube networks

Here, we quantify the electron transport properties of aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) networks as a function of the CNT length, where the electrical conductivities may be tuned by up to 10× with anisotropies exceeding 40%. Testing at elevated temperatures demonstrates that the aligned CNT networks ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2015-02, Vol.106 (5)
Main Authors: Lee, Jeonyoon, Stein, Itai Y., Devoe, Mackenzie E., Lewis, Diana J., Lachman, Noa, Kessler, Seth S., Buschhorn, Samuel T., Wardle, Brian L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACTIVATION ENERGY
Alignment
Applied physics
Carbon
CARBON NANOTUBES
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC CONTACTS
Electrical junctions
ELECTRON TRANSFER
Electron transport
Electron tunneling
High temperature
Morphology
Temperature
TUNNEL EFFECT
Variation
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Summary:Here, we quantify the electron transport properties of aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) networks as a function of the CNT length, where the electrical conductivities may be tuned by up to 10× with anisotropies exceeding 40%. Testing at elevated temperatures demonstrates that the aligned CNT networks have a negative temperature coefficient of resistance, and application of the fluctuation induced tunneling model leads to an activation energy of ≈14 meV for electron tunneling at the CNT-CNT junctions. Since the tunneling activation energy is shown to be independent of both CNT length and orientation, the variation in electron transport is attributed to the number of CNT-CNT junctions an electron must tunnel through during its percolated path, which is proportional to the morphology of the aligned CNT network.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4907608