Electron transport in nanotube--molecular wire hybrids

Abstract

We study contact effects on electron transport across a molecular wire sandwiched between two semi-infinite (carbon) nanotube leads as a model for nanoelectrodes. Employing the Landauer scattering matrix approach we find that the conductance is very sensitive to parameters such as the coupling strength and geometry of the contact. The conductance exhibits markedly different behavior in the two limiting scenarios of single contact and multiple contacts between the molecular wire and the nanotube interfacial atoms. In contrast to a single contact the multiple-contact configuration acts as a filter selecting single transport channels. It exhibits a scaling law for the conductance as a function of coupling strength and tube diameter. We also observe an unusual narrow-to-broad-to-narrow behavior of conductance resonances upon decreasing the coupling.

4 pages, figures included

References in corpus (4)

• Electron transport through a metal-molecule-metal junction
• Fractional quantum conductance in carbon nanotubes
• Electron Standing Wave Formation in Atomic Wires
• Lattice-dynamics of a Disordered solid-solid Interface

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• Conductance of a molecular junction mediated by unconventional metal-induced gap states
• Fullerene based devices for molecular electronics
• Mechano-switching devices from carbon wire-carbon nanotube junctions
• Electron transport on a cylindrical surface with one-dimensional leads
• Transport through an AC driven impurity: Fano interference and bound states in the continuum