The electrical properties of asymmetric metal–carbon nanotube (CNT) structures have been studied using density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green’s function method with Atomistix tool kit. The models with asymmetric metal contacts and carbon nanotube bear resemblance to experimental set-ups. The study shows the effect of varying length of carbon nanotube on electronic transmission and conductance of various structures. The effects of silicon doping on CNT-based structures have also been studied. The conductance of structure with longer CNT is more compared with shorter CNT. Silicon doping increases the conductivity of carbon nanotube-based structure.