Pressure control of conducting channels in singlewall nanotube networks

Abstract

We measure electrical transport on networks of single wall nanotube ropes as a function of temperature T, voltage V and pressure up to 22GPa. We observe Luttinger liquid (LL) behavior, a conductance ~T^alpha and a dynamic conductance ~V^alpha. With pressure conductance increases while alpha decreases, enabling us to test the theoretical prediction for LL on the alpha dependence of the T and V independent coefficient of the tunneling conductance, and to obtain the high frequency cut-off of LL modes. The possible transition to a fermi liquid at alpha -> 0 is unattainable, as nanotubes collapse to an insulating state at high pressures.