Transport properties of double-walled carbon nanotubes and carbon boronitride heteronanotubes

Abstract Using the density functional theory combined with the nonequilibrium Green's function, the transport properties of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) and carbon boronitride (CBN) heteronanotubes were investigated. As the hopping length increases, the conductance of DWCNTs shows a dramatic variation that is independent of the intertube space. The transport of the CBN heterojunctions also displays abnormal behavior when the hopping length is changed, which is very different from the behavior of DWCNTs. The currents of the forward in the CBN heterojunctions are about 3–15 times as large as those of the back under lower bias voltages. The negative differential resistance (NDR) effect occurs in the CBN heterojunctions, and the peak-to-valley ratio in the additional NDR regions is about 2–4 for the current–voltage relationship. The hopping length and BN parts have a great influence on the transport of the double-walled nanodevices.