Abstract

In this talk, I will present the results of two sets of experiments which we performed in order to measure the electronic and structural properties of the same individual carbon nanotube (CNT).

In the first part of my talk, I will present experiments in which the conductance of individual CNTs has been measured in-situ in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) by dipping them into mercury. I will show that the measurement of an apparent conductance quantification in CNTs with this technique can be related to the formation of Hg-nanocontacts and not to an intrinsic property of the CNTs, as suggested by early works.

In the second part of my talk, I will present experiments where the Raman Excitation Profile, which gives optical information, and the Electron Diffraction pattern, which gives structural information, have been measured on the same individual CNTs. These experiments can be used as a standard for testing state of the art theories on optical properties of individual single-walled CNTs. In addition, I will show that we evidenced new mechanical and electronic coupling effects in small bundles of CNTs.

Finally, I will briefly discuss our recent development in in-situ transport and nano-manipulation TEM sample holders.