Effects of uniaxial compressive strain on the electronic-transport properties of zigzag carbon nanotubes

Recently, substantial attention has been paid to the strain sensitivity of the carbon nanotubes' (CNTs') electronic properties. In this study, the relationships between the geometric structures and electronic states of zigzag CNTs under uniaxial compressive strain were investigated. We found that different factors dominate the electronic states of zigzag CNTs depending on the strain regions: the initial stage of the strain loading, which lasts until column-buckling deformation begins, and the strain regions corresponding to column- and shell-buckling deformations. Because shell-buckling deformation significantly increases the pi-orbital angle, the angle between the rho orbital axis vectors of adjacent atoms, strong localization of the density of states (LDOS) occurs in the buckled area. We also analyzed the current able to pass through deformed CNTs using a tight-binding-based Green's function approach and determined that the current can be significantly suppressed by applying uniaxial compressive strain. Our method of predicting the electronic state of a deformed CNT based on the pi-orbital angle is expected to be useful for predicting the electronic properties of CNT-based electronic devices and sensors.