Using the first-principles approach in the Landauer formalism, a study was made of the effects of monovacancy and Stone-Wales defects upon the electrical conductance of carbon nanotube itself and its junction with copper electrodes. It was found that the Stone-Wales defect had an almost negligible impact on the electrical performance of the carbon nanotube (5,5) and its junction with copper at the Fermi level, while the monovacancy could reduce the electrical conductance of the carbon nanotube (5,5) significantly and that of the Cu/nanotube (5,5)/Cu junction by more than 30%.

Effects of Local Structural Defects on the Electron Transport in Effects of Local Structural Defects on the Electron Transport in a Carbon Nanotube Between Cu Electrodes. F.Gao, J.Qu, M.Yao: Applied Physics Letters, 2010, 97[24], 242112