Linear conductance of multiwalled carbon nanotubes at high temperatures

We have studied the electrical conductance of gas-desorbed multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) at high temperatures, and found a peculiar linear temperature dependence of conductance over a wide temperature range from 100 to 800 K. We interpret this phenomenon by using a thermal activation picture of conduction channels below the gap in the vicinity of the Dirac points. The result also indicates a very short and temperature-independent electron mean free path in our MWNTs, and provides a way to determine the number of residual conduction channels in the MWNTs.