Determination of the electrical resistivity of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes by scanning probe microscopy

Techniques are developed to determine the resistance per unit length and the electrical resistivity of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA CNTs) using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). These techniques are used to study the resistance of VA CNTs. The resistance of an individual VA CNT calculated with the AFM-based technique is shown to be higher than the resistance of VA CNTs determined by the STM-based technique by a factor of 200, which is related to the influence of the resistance of the contact of an AFM probe to VA CNTs. The resistance per unit length and the electrical resistivity of an individual VA CNT 118 $\pm$ 39 nm in diameter and 2.23 $\pm$ 0.37 $\mu$m in height that are determined by the STM-based technique are 19.28 $\pm$ 3.08 k$\Omega$/$\mu$m and 8.32 $\pm$ 3.18 $\times$ 10$^{-4}$ $\Omega$ m, respectively. The STM-based technique developed to determine the resistance per unit length and the electrical resistivity of VA CNTs can be used to diagnose the electrical parameters of VA CNTs and to create VA CNT-based nanoelectronic elements.