We have theoretically investigated electromechanical properties of freely suspended carbon nanotubes when a current is injected into the tubes using a scanning tunneling microscope. We show that a shuttle-like electromechanical instability can occur if the bias voltage exceeds a dissipation-dependent threshold value. An instability results in large amplitude vibrations of the carbon nanotube bending mode, which modify the current-voltage characteristics of the system.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0503497,
title = {Electromechanical instability in suspended carbon nanotubes},
author = {L. M. Jonsson and L. Y Gorelik and R. I. Shekhter and M. Jonson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0503497},
year = {2015}
}