Rectification Properties of Carbon Nanotube “Y-Junctions”

Antonis N. Andriotis; Madhu Menon; Deepak Srivastava; Leonid Chernozatonskii

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.066802

Rectification Properties of Carbon Nanotube “Y-Junctions”

Antonis N. Andriotis, Madhu Menon, Deepak Srivastava, and Leonid Chernozatonskii

Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 066802 – Published 19 July 2001

Abstract

Quantum conductivity of single-wall carbon nanotube Y-junctions is calculated. The current versus voltage characteristics of these junctions show asymmetry and rectification, in agreement with recent experimental results. Furthermore, rectification is found to be independent of the angle between the branches of these junctions, indicating this to be an intrinsic property of symmetric Y-junctions. The implications for the Y-junction to function as a nanoscale molecular electronic switch are investigated.

Received 2 March 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.066802

Authors & Affiliations

Antonis N. Andriotis^1,*, Madhu Menon^2,3,†, Deepak Srivastava^4,‡, and Leonid Chernozatonskii^5,§

¹Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology–Hellas, P.O. Box 1527, 71110 Heraklio, Crete, Greece
²Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0055
³Center for Computational Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0045
⁴NASA Ames Research Center, CSC, Mail Stop T27-A1, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000
⁵Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117977, Russian Federation

^*Email address: andriot@iesl.forth.gr
^†Email address: super250@pop.uky.edu
^‡Email address: deepak@nas.nasa.gov
^§Email address: cherno@sky.chph.ras.ru