Guiding electrical current in nanotube circuits using structural defects: a step forward in nanoelectronics.
Electrical current could be efficiently guided in 2D nanotube networks by introducing specific topological defects within the periodic framework. Using semiempirical transport calculations coupled with Landauer-Buttiker formalism of quantum transport in multiterminal nanoscale systems, we provide a detailed analysis of the processes governing the atomic-scale design of nanotube circuits. We found that when defects are introduced as patches in specific sites, they act as bouncing centers that reinject electrons along specific paths, via a wave reflection process. This type of defects can be incorporated while preserving the 3-fold connectivity of each carbon atom embedded within the graphitic lattice. Our findings open up a new way to explore bottom-up design, at the nanometer scale, of complex nanotube circuits which could be extended to 3D nanosystems and applied in the fabrication of nanoelectronic devices.
Romo-Herrera
Jose M
JM
Advanced Materials Department and National Laboratory for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Reseearch, IPICYT, Camino a la Presa San Jose 2055, Col. Lomas 4a Seccion, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Terrones
Mauricio
M
Terrones
Humberto
H
Meunier
Vincent
V
D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*
D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon