Quantum transport of electrons through graphene and carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Quantum transport of electrons through graphene has attracted increased interest in the field of nano-technology. Quantum transport through mesoscopic systems explains a wide range of interesting experimental findings, such as: rectification, switching mechanism and transistor actions. We focused our research on the quantum transmission of electrons through graphene and carbon nanotubes. Graphene and nanotube devices operated between source and drain shows a peculiar negative differential resistance behavior (NDR) while drawing current- voltage characteristics. This property is used in many electronic devices. The main feature of graphene is that the electron has zero effective mass at Dirac points, but gains mass when the graphene sheet is folded into a nanotube. Scientists have analyzed the vanishing mass of the electron inside graphene and explain the observed mass gain through Higgs mechanism. We focus our study on the Klein Paradox which deals with the reflection probability greater than one as well as a negative transmission probability. This has been predicted by Oscar Klein and remained a mystery until 1929; the Klein Paradox finally was proven with experimental and theoretical evidence by Geim and Novoselov. In the case of graphene, conductivity is an exponential function of temperature, whereas nanotubes follow a power law. This is a very characteristic feature of quantum dots.