Encapsulation of floating carbon nanotubes in SiO(2).
In many applications of carbon nanotubes (CNT), it is desirable to have them embedded in a dielectric such as SiO(2), without significantly impacting their electronic properties. Here we investigate the CNT-SiO(2) interface of an embedded CNT using first-principles calculations. We show that strong Si-O-C bonds form, suggesting the feasibility of SiO(2) deposition on CNTs. We further show that subsequent hydrogenation eliminates all the Si-O-C bonds, leading to floating CNTs with electronic properties very close to those of pristine CNTs in vacuum.
Tsetseris
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
Pantelides
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