Scanning tunneling microscopy experiments revealed, for the first time, a much more complicated junction structure, a hybrid single-walled carbon nanotube consisting of a distinct coiled structure located between two straight segments, each of different helicity. The hybrid junction was characterized at the atomic level and its electronic behavior was described. This had important implications for the practical design of functional components for nano-electronic applications.

Influence of Structural Defects on the Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes Examined by Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy. C.E.Giusca, S.R.P.Silva: Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, 2010, 1258, 239-44