Electron Transport Across Interfaces in Horizontal Carbon Nanofiber Interconnects

In a carbon nanofiber (CNF) metal contact such as a bridge between two metallic electrodes, passing high current (current stressing) reduces the total resistance of the system (CNF resistance R_CNF and contact resistance R_c) by orders of magnitude. The role of current stressing is modeled as a reduction in the interfacial tunneling gap with transport characteristics attributed to tunneling between Au and CNF. The model predicts a reduction in R_c and the nonlinearity in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics gradually disappears as R_c decreases. These results are consistent with I-V behavior measured experimentally.