Coaxial carbon nanotubes as shielded nanowires

We report transverse polarizabilities of coaxial carbon nanotubes using first principles density functional theory. These results demonstrate a shielding of the inner nanotube from electric fields by the outer nanotube. This study has implications for nanoelectronics, specifically for the possibility of using coaxial nanotubes as nanoelectrical wires. Shielding is predicted to be on the order of 95% by high-level polarizability calculations. This shielding occurs regardless of whether the outer nanotube is metallic or semiconducting. In addition, a series of calculations on coaxial nanotubes where the inner nanotube is not centered show that the shielding still occurs with approximately the same magnitude. These calculations therefore indicate that it would be possible to use a coaxial carbon nanotube as a shielded nanowire.