Electrical and thermal transport in metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes

Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) possess extraordinary electrical and thermal properties. They support two orders of magnitude higher current densities than copper wires and have thermal conductivity comparable to diamond, or more than five times that of copper. Hence, their electrical and thermal properties are of fundamental importance. This abstract covers recent experimental and modeling work shedding light on the coupled electro-thermal behavior of electrically-contacted SWNTs, both freely suspended and in contact with insulating substrates.