Electrical transport through parallel multiwalled carbon nanotubes

We here present the electrical characteristics of two multiwalled carbon nanotubes lying parallel on the spacing between two gold electrodes. We further show the modifications in the current by depositing platinum metal at the contacts. A step by step reduction in the resistance of the tubes is shown with platinum metal deposition steps. A total reduction of about 46% is observed in the resistance after platinum deposition on both the tubes, as compared to the case when no metal has been deposited on the tubes. Interestingly, the electrical resistances and the amount of improvement are consistent with the diameters of the tubes. These experimental observations support that the resistances of the parallel tubes follow the calculation of resistance valid for simple parallel resistive wires.