Bolometric detection of mechanical bending waves in suspended carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We show that it is possible to detect mechanical bending modes on 1 micron long ropes of single walled-carbon nanotubes suspended between 2 metallic contacts. This is done by measuring either their dc resistance in a region of strong temperature dependence (in the vicinity of superconducting or metal-insulator transition), or their critical current. The vibrations are excited by a radio-frequency electric field produced by an antenna located in the vicinity of the sample. We analyze the mechanism of detection of the mechanical resonances in terms of heating and phase breaking effects.