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Published on: February 5, 2017
Bloch oscillations in carbon nanotubes
Esther Jódar1, Antonio Pérez-Garrido, Fernando Rojas
1Departamento Física Aplicada, Antiguo Hospital de Marina Campus Muralla del Mar, UPCT, Cartagena 30202 Murcia, Spain.
Abstract:
Bloch oscillations arise when electrons are in a one-dimensional linear chain of atoms under a constant electric field. In this paper we show numerically that electrons in different types of carbon nanotubes show oscillations with a Bloch frequency proportional to the constant electric field applied along the nanotube axis. We show these oscillations, calculating the quadratic displacement as a function of the electric field. Because of the double periodicity of the nanotubes' geometry (the lattice constant and the lines of atoms) two frequencies appear, one twice the value of the other. These frequencies coincide perfectly with those predicted for a linear chain of atoms, taking into account the periodicity considered in each case.
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