Carbon nanotubes: Electrons in one dimension

The work presented in this thesis will discuss transport measurements on individual single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and SWNT bundles. SWNTs, which are essentially rolled-up sheets of graphite, are either one-dimensional (1D) metals or 1D semiconductors depending on how they are rolled-up. Measurements on both metallic and semiconducting SWNTs will be presented.; Chapter 1 will present an introductory overview to the thesis, discussing prior related experimental work and introducing basic concepts that are used in subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 discusses the experimental methods we have used to study transport in SWNTs.; Chapters 3 and 4 discuss low temperature measurements of metallic SWNTs. Chapter 3 will discuss the low temperature behavior of the conductance of a SWNT bundle, or rope, that shows quantum mechanical effects resulting from the finite size of the sample. Chapter 4 will discuss how these finite size effects can be used to experimentally study the quantum level structure in metallic nanotubes and the effects of an applied magnetic field.; In chapters 5 and 6, we discuss transport measurements of semiconducting SWNTs. In chapter 5, we show that semiconducting SWNT's can be doped with potassium. Chapter 6 presents experiment and theory that indicate that the elastic mean free path in metallic tubes is far longer than in semiconducting tubes.; Chapters 7 and 8 address the effects of electron-electron (e-e) interactions on the transport properties of metallic SWNTs. Chapter 7 discusses some theoretical aspects of 1D wires when e-e interactions are taken account, giving a simplified picture of the Luttinger-liquid state expected for a 1D system of interacting electrons. Finally, chapter 8 will discuss measurements on metallic samples with extremely long mean free paths. These experiments show evidence of this Luttinger-liquid behavior, in which the electron-electron interactions lead to a qualitatively different ground state than what would be expected with Fermi-liquid theory.