Is the Intrinsic Thermoelectric Power of Carbon Nanotubes Positive?

Keith Bradley; Seung-Hoon Jhi; Philip G. Collins; J. Hone; Marvin L. Cohen; S. G. Louie; A. Zettl

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.4361

Is the Intrinsic Thermoelectric Power of Carbon Nanotubes Positive?

Keith Bradley, Seung-Hoon Jhi, Philip G. Collins, J. Hone, Marvin L. Cohen, S. G. Louie, and A. Zettl

Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4361 – Published 13 November 2000

Abstract

The thermoelectric power (TEP) of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is extremely sensitive to gas exposure history. Samples exposed to air or oxygen have an always positive TEP, suggestive of holelike carriers. However, at fixed temperature the TEP crosses zero and becomes progressively more negative as the SWNTs are stripped of oxygen. The time constant for oxygen adsorption/desorption is strongly temperature dependent and ranges from seconds to many days, leading to apparently “variable” TEP for a given sample at a given temperature. The saturated TEP can be accounted for within a model of strong oxygen doping of the semiconducting nanotubes.

Received 16 March 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.4361

Authors & Affiliations

Keith Bradley, Seung-Hoon Jhi, Philip G. Collins, J. Hone, Marvin L. Cohen, S. G. Louie, and A. Zettl^*

Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720