Contact resistance of multiwall carbon nanotubes

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with Au/Ti electrodes were fabricated. The zero-bias resistances were measured at room temperature. The resistance was dominated by the contact resistance and was not significantly affected by the intrinsic resistance of the CNTs which should be determined by diameter, chirality, defect and bend of the CNTs. It is shown that the contact resistance can be controlled by the length of part of the CNT which is covered by the electrode. At low temperature, the multiwall CNT behaved as a single Coulomb island without dividing into several islands. In this case, the contact resistance between the CNT and the metal formed the tunnel resistance in Coulomb blockade unlike the case of single-wall CNT. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.