Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of topological defects in carbon nanotubes

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) are powerful techniques for investigating the electronic and topographic properties of carbon nanotubes. The growing availability of STM data allows the accurate study of perfect tubules. Today, the identification of topological and non-topological modifications of the hexagonal lattice of a carbon nanotube is experimentally challenging. Our recently proposed approach to interpret and predict STM and STS observations on a routine basis is used to simulate the topographic and spectroscopic signatures of pentagons and heptagons and contribute to their identification.