Electron transport in canbon nanotubes encapsulating fullerene-based structures

Abstract

For two hybrid nanotube systems of (10,10) tubes which contain respectively a finite capped (5,5) tube (capsule) and a long chain of C$_{60}$`s, we study electron transport numerically and analytically. We find that the structural symmetries give distinguishable features to transmission. For the (10,10) tube containing the (5,5) capsule, antiresonances occur by the contribution of additional channels of the (5,5) capsule. The presence of mirror symmetries in cross sections cause symmetric lineshapes, while the mirror symmetry breaking leads asymmetric lineshapes. On the other hand, for the (10,10) tube containing the C$_{60}$ chain, transmissions present the features such as antiresonance, resonance, and transmission gap which depend on the mirror symmetries and the rotational symmetries in the cross sections. These results come from the fact that the structural symmetries determine the state-mixing of the inner structures and the outer tubes.