Electrical transport in carbon nanotube coatings of silica fibers

Electrical properties and magnetoresistance (MR) of single-wall carbon nanotubes coatings of silica fibers were investigated in temperature range 1.8-300 K and magnetic fields up to 8 T. The dependence of resistance vs temperature, R (T), and MR within the range of 2∼8 K can be explained by a 3D variable range hopping transport. In the temperature range of 8-300 K, R (T) dependencies can be interpreted by fluctuation-induced tunnelling model. The determined carrier transport features were supported by additional measurements of change in conductivity in strong 10 GHz microwave fields and measurements of THz radiation induced photocurrent at various lattice temperatures. The features of carrier transport in SWCNTs-SiO2 coatings are compared with those in free-standing single walled carbon nanotube fibers. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)