Effects of local structural defects on the electron transport in a carbon nanotube between Cu electrodes

Using the first-principles approach with the Landauer formalism, we studied the effects of monovacancy and Stone-Wales defects on the electrical conductance of carbon nanotube (CNT) itself and its junction with copper electrodes. We found that the Stone-Wales defect has almost negligible impact on the electrical performance of the CNT(5,5) and its junction with copper at the Fermi level, while the monovacancy can reduce the electrical conductance of the CNT(5,5) significantly and that of the Cu/CNT(5,5)/Cu junction by more than 30%. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3527918]