Anomalous Conductance Quantization in Carbon Nanotubes

Conductance measurements of carbon nanotubes containing gated local depletion regions exhibit plateaus as a function of gate voltage, spaced by approximately e2/h, the quantum of conductance for a single (non-degenerate) mode. Plateau structure is investigated as a function of bias voltage, temperature, and magnetic field. We speculate on the origin of this surprising quantization, which appears to lack band and spin degeneracy.