title: Electromechanical instability in suspended carbon nanotubes.
abstract: We have theoretically investigated electromechanical properties of freely suspended carbon nanotubes when a current is injected into the tubes using a scanning tunneling microscope. We show that a shuttle-like electromechanical instability can occur if the bias voltage exceeds a dissipation-dependent threshold value. An instability results in large amplitude vibrations of the carbon nanotube bending mode, which modify the current-voltage characteristics of the system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE - 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden. mjonsson@fy.chalmers.se
authors.forename: L Magnus
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Jonsson
authors.forename: Leonid Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Gorelik
authors.forename: Robert I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Shekhter
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jonson
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods; D004566:Electrodes; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling / Q000379:methods*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D002244:Carbon