Electronic transport in Z-junction carbon nanotubes

In this paper, the electronic transport in different Z-shape carbon nanotubes containing double knee junction structures on the same tube is studied. One consists of (5,5)-(9,0)-(5,5) double knee nano-metal-metal-metal junctions and another consists (6,6)-(10,0)-(6,6) double knee nano-metal-semiconductor-metal junctions. With the nearest-neighbor pi-orbital tight-binding model, quantum conductances of these double knee junctions are calculated using the Landauer formula. The interesting conductance curves are provided to exhibit a potential application in the arena of molecular electronics. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.