Correlation between the mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes.

Correlation between the maximum allowable currents and the Young's moduli of the same individual carbon nanotubes was investigated in terms of current-voltage characteristics and the resonant frequencies of the cantilevered nanotubes. The maximum allowable current increases with increasing Young's modulus and saturates around 3 microA nm(-1) at Young's modulus higher than 1 TPa, indicating that electrical conduction is related to the defect density on the defective nanotube.