Angular magnetoresistance of stretched carbon nanotube sheets

We studied the anisotropic properties of mechanically stretched bulk carbon nanotube sheets using magnetoresistance (MR) measurements in magnetic fields applied under different orientations with respect to the stretching direction. The stretching direction was either parallel or perpendicular to the direction of the electric current. The magnetic field was rotated either in-the-plane or out-of-the-plane of the sheets. We found that the angular dependence of the MR is a superposition of two terms, one with twofold symmetry and the other one with fourfold symmetry. We also found that the field-dependence of the MR is composed of two terms, one positive and one negative, whose magnitudes are largest when the field is parallel with the stretching direction. If the sheets are treated with nitric acid, the positive term is removed and the MR is smallest when the field is aligned with the magnetic field. We attribute these anisotropic features to magnetoelastic effects induced by the coupling between the magnetic catalyst nanoparticles, the magnetic field, and the network of nanotubes. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4729538]