Ballistic Conduction in Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

The electrical transport in multiwalled carbon nanotubes is shown to be ballistic at room temperature with mean free paths on the order of tens of microns. The measurements are performed both in air and in the transmission electron microscope by contacting the free end of a nanotube pointing out of a fiber to a liquid metal and measuring the dependence of the nanotube resistance between the contacts. For a specific representative nanotube the resistance per unit length is found to be R _t = 31 ± 61 Ω/μm and the contact resistance with the liquid metal, R _c = 165 ± 55 Ωμm, corresponding to a mean free path l = 200 μm. Current-to-voltage characteristics are in accord with the electronic structure. The nanotubes survive high currents (up to 1 mA, i.e., current density on the order of 10⁹ A/cm²). In situ electron microscopy shows that a relatively large fraction of the nanotubes do not conduct (even at high bias), consistent with the existence of semiconducting nanotubes. Discrepancies with other measurements are most likely due to damage caused to the outer layer(s) of the nanotubes during processing. The measured mean free path of clean, undamaged arc-produced multiwalled carbon nanotubes is several orders of magnitude greater than that for metals, making this perhaps the most significant property of carbon nanotubes.