1/f Noise in Carbon Nanotubes
Philip G. Collins, M. S. Fuhrer, and A. Zettl
Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, and Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, California 94720
Applied Physics Letters , 76(7):894-896 (Feb 14, 2000)
Abstract
The electrical noise characteristics of single-walled carbon nanotubes have been
investigated. For all three cases of individual isolated nanotubes, thin films of
interconnected nanotubes, and bulk nanotube mats, anomalously large
bias-dependent 1/f noise is found. The noise magnitude greatly exceeds that
commonly observed in metal films, carbon resistors, or even carbon fibers with
comparable resistances. A single empirical expression describes the noise for all
nanotube samples, suggesting a common noise-generating mechanism
proportional only to the number of nanotubes in the conductor. We consider likely
sources of the fluctuations, and consequences for electronic applications of
nanotubes if the excessive noise cannot be suppressed.
