Coupling between Electronic and Vibrational Excitations in Carbon Nanotubes Filled with C60 Fullerenes |
| P. Utko a, R. Ferone b,c, I.V. Krive c,d, R.I. Shekhter c, M. Jonson c,e,f, M. Monthioux g, L. Noé g and J. Nygård a
aNano-Science Center & Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark bDepartment of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK cDepartment of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden dB.I. Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering, 61103 Kharkov, Ukraine eSchool of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK fSchool of Physics, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea gCEMES-CNRS, B.P. 94347, F-31055 Toulouse Cedex 4, France |
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| We investigate the low-temperature electron transport through C60 peapods, which are carbon nanotubes encapsulating C60 fullerenes. We find that the temperature dependence of the Coulomb blockade oscillations in peapod quantum dots deviates from conventional Breit-Wigner behavior, showing signatures of the Franck-Condon blockade of conductance. This indicates the presence of a coupling between electronic states and vibrational excitations. Unlike for suspended empty nanotubes, these are not intrinsic vibrational modes of the tube but mechanical vibrations of the encapsulated fullerenes that affect the electronic transport. Fullerene peapods thus emerge as a new class of nanoelectromechanical systems. |
| DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.120.839 PACS numbers: 73.63.Fg, 73.63.Kv, 73.23.Hk, 73.22.Lp, 71.38.-k |