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

Abstract

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.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Feb 02, 2015
Source ID
10.1063/1.4907608

Entities

People

  • Brian Wardle
  • Diana J Lewis
  • Itai Y. Stein
  • Jeonyoon Lee
  • Mackenzie E. Devoe
  • Noa Lachman
  • Samuel T. Buschhorn
  • Seth S. Kessler

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Solar Physics
  • Superconducting Magnet Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics