Symmetry Breaking in Boron Nitride Nanotubes

Masa Ishigami, Jay Deep Sau, Shaul Aloni, Marvin L. Cohen, and A. Zettl

Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 176804 – Published 27 October 2006

Abstract

We have imaged boron nitride nanotubes with atomic scale resolution using scanning tunneling microscopy. While some nanotubes show the expected triangular lattice pattern, the majority of the nanotubes show unusual stripe patterns which break the underlying symmetry of the boron nitride lattice. We identify the origin of the symmetry breaking and demonstrate that conventional STM imaging analysis is inadequate for boron nitride nanotubes.

Received 13 January 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.176804

Authors & Affiliations

Masa Ishigami^1,2, Jay Deep Sau^1,2, Shaul Aloni^1,2,3, Marvin L. Cohen^1,2, and A. Zettl^1,2,3,*

¹Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
²Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA
³The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

^*Electronic address: azettl@socrates.berkeley.edu

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Vol. 97, Iss. 17 — 27 October 2006

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