Temperature dependence of transport properties in a suspended carbon nanotube

The temperature dependence of the conductance of a suspended carbon nanotube, as probed by means of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip, is analyzed. Employing the theory of coupling between electronic and vibronic degrees of freedom, local linear and nonlinear transport features are studied as a function of temperature. It is shown that the thermal activation of excited vibronic modes leads to a reduction of the STM signal.