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Electrical conductivity measurements of a multi‐walled carbon nanotube
Author(s) -
Shimizu Tetsuo,
Abe Hidekazu,
Ando Atsushi,
Nakayama Yoshikazu,
Tokumoto Hiroshi
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.1965
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , materials science , fabrication , quantum tunnelling , nanotechnology , scanning electron microscope , electrical resistance and conductance , transmission electron microscopy , electrical resistivity and conductivity , scanning tunneling microscope , electrical conductor , composite material , electrode , microscope , alloy , optoelectronics , electrical engineering , optics , chemistry , medicine , alternative medicine , physics , engineering , pathology
We present a new method for fabricating a multi‐walled carbon nanotube (CNT) probe using a low‐melting‐point alloy as the connecting material. In particular, we constructed a CNT bridge structure connected by the alloy and measured current–voltage ( I – V ) characteristics exhibiting a resistance of <450 kΩ, which is low enough to compare with the tunnelling gap resistance of scanning tunnelling microscopy. Furthermore, to investigate the electrical conductivity of the CNT bridge structure in detail, we assembled a special holder to manipulate the CNT within a scanning transmission electron microscope. We then fabricated a CNT bridge structure and measured its I – V characteristics in the microscope using TiNi nanoparticles (with an average diameter of 100 nm) as the connecting material between the CNT and the electrode. The resistance of the CNT bridge structure showed an ideal quantum resistance, indicating that TiNi nanoparticles can be considered as one of the ideal connecting materials. This success demonstrates the usefulness of the holder that we assembled. We believe that this holder will contribute to the fabrication of conductive CNT probes and the realization of CNT‐based electrical devices. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.