Nitrogen doping of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes: n-type conduction and dipole scattering

¹  Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Pulsés CNRS/INSA/UPS - B.P. 14245, F-31400 Toulouse, France
²  Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory CNRS - B.P. 166, F-38042 Grenoble, France
³  LCVN (UMR5587), Université Montpellier II - Pl. E. Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier, France
⁴  Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung - Heisenbergstr. 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
⁵  Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo - P.O. Box 1033 Blindern, N-0135 Oslo, Norway

Received: 21 June 2006
Accepted: 28 November 2006

Abstract

The charge transport properties of individual, metallic nitrogen doped, single-walled carbon nanotubes are investigated. It is demonstrated that n-type conduction can be achieved by nitrogen doping. Evidence was obtained by appealing to electric-field effect measurements at ambient condition. n-type conduction is attributed to the presence of graphite-type nitrogen. The observed temperature dependencies of the zero-bias conductance indicate a disordered electron system with electric-dipole scattering, caused mainly by pyridine-type nitrogen atoms in the honeycomb lattice.