Calculation of the charge spreading along a carbon nanotube seen in scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM)

• Published in: Diamond and related materials Vol. 11; no. 3-6; pp. 961 - 963
• Main Authors: Márk, G.I., Koós, A., Osváth, Z., Biró, L.P., Gyulai, J., Benito, A.M., Maser, W.K., Thiry, P.A., Lambin, Ph
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.03.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Electron, ion, and scanning probe microscopy; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic transport in interface structures; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Modeling; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Physics; Scanning probe microscopy: scanning tunneling, atomic force, scanning optical, magnetic force, etc; Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM); sp2 Bonding; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Tunneling; Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM); Computer simulation; Modeling; sp2 Bonding; Nonmetals; Tunnel effect; Theoretical study; Carbon nanotubes; Modelling; Computerized simulation; Nanostructures; Carbon; STM
• ISSN: 0925-9635; 1879-0062
• DOI: 10.1016/S0925-9635(01)00555-6

Investigating the distribution of the scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) current through a nanostructured material is a subject of great current interest. For this work, we calculated the transmission of an electron wave packet through a supported carbon nanotube by numerically solving the three-dimensional (3D) time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The spreading of the wave packet along the nanotube during the tunnelling event is determined from the wave function. It is shown that this spread influences the length segment of the nanotube ‘sampled’ by the tunnelling current. The results are compared to experiments. The prime novelty of the paper is the 3D time-dependent study of tunnelling through a supported nanotube.