| Carbon nanotubes are materials with amazing mechanical and electronic properties, which makes them suitable for building nanoscale electronic devices and circuits. However, their electronic transport properties are not yet fully understood. In this study we aim to investigate the electronic transport through nanotube/nanotube contacts. Our calculations are based on Land auer-Büttiker formalism. The transmission function is computed using a Green's functions technique and a tight-binding hamiltonian. Two types of geometries are considered: parallel contact and concentric contact. Additionally we analyze the behavior of a nanotube Y-junction. We find that out of all the properties of individual nanotubes, chirality and symmetry have the most important effect on the electronic transport. As a rule, armchair/armchair and metallic zigzag/zigzag contacts show the best conduction. This is explained by the perfect in-registry atomic arrangement they can provide. The contact length and the local arrangement of the atoms in the contact area are factors that further influence the conductance. We found that in optimal conditions (i.e. in-registry atomic arrangement), a contact length of ∼10 nm is enough to achieve the same conductance as a perfect nanotube. Beyond that the conductance is modulated by quantum interference effects, due to the formation of a resonant cavity in the contact area. For concentric contacts, the states between which the electron hops when passing from one tube to the other must have compatible rotational symmetries, otherwise, the corresponding conduction channel will be suppressed. This results can be used to predict the electronic transport through various setups, including nanotube bundles and multiwall nanotubes. |
