Electromechanical instability in suspended carbon nanotubes.

Jonsson, L Magnus; Gorelik, Leonid Y; Shekhter, Robert I; Jonson, Mats · Nano Lett · 2005

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We have theoretically investigated electromechanical properties of freely suspended carbon nanotubes when a current is injected into the tubes using a scanning tunneling microscope. We show that a shuttle-like electromechanical instability can occur if the bias voltage exceeds a dissipation-dependent threshold value. An instability results in large amplitude vibrations of the carbon nanotube bending mode, which modify the current-voltage characteristics of the system.

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