Correlating the location of structural defects with the electrical failure of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Electrical failure of carbon nanotubes was investigated by obtaining $\mathrm{I(V)}$ data with a voltage ramp from a rope of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Noncontact scanning force microscope images were obtained before and after each $\mathrm{I(V)}$ curve until electrical failure of the tube resulted. Following this procedure, it was possible to correlate a defect on the surface of a nanotube with the exact location of the tube failure.