Heidelberg 1999 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

PV: Plenarvorträge

PV II

PV II: Plenary Talk

Monday, March 15, 1999, 09:00–09:45, CH 1

Carbon Nanotubes as Molecular Quantum Wires — •Cees Dekker — Department of Applied Physics and DIMES, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands

I will start my talk with an introduction to carbon nanotubes, an then review our recent electron-transport and STM results obtained on individual carbon nanotube molecules. STM imaging and spectroscopy data on single-wall nanotubes allow to make the correlation between the atomic and electronic structure of nanotubes. The central theoretical prediction that chiral nanotubes are either semiconducting or metallic is confirmed experimentally. Standing electron waves can be observed by STM spectroscopy in nanotubes of finite length. Electrical transport has been studied through individual nanotubes deposited onto nanofabricated metal contacts. Measurements at mK temperatures indicate Coulomb charging and resonant tunneling through well-separated discrete electron states that extend over very long distances. Recent transport experiments on individual nanotubes show that we can build a single-molecule field-effect transistor that operates at room temperature.