Theoretical study of electron transport in boron nanotubes

The electron transport in single-walled boron nanotube (BNT) is studied using the Landauer-Büttiker [R. Landauer, J. Phys.: Condens: Matter 1, 8099 (1989); M. Büttiker, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 1761 (1986)] multichannel approach in conjunction with the tight-binding method. In the range of the calculated length (1-5.0 nm) of the tubes, the calculations predict a ballistic transport in BNT and find a relatively low resistance for BNTs as compared to that of the single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of comparable length. A lower resistance in the case of BNT than the CNT may be attributed to electron-deficient nature of boron characterized by the presence of two-center, and multicenter bonds in the former