Hydrodynamic Modelling of the Electronic Response of Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

The discovery of carbon nanotubes by Iijima in 1991 has created a torrent of new research activities. Research on carbon nanotubes ranges from studying their fundamental properties, such as their electron band structure and plasma frequencies, to developing new applications, such as self-assembled nano-circuits and field emission displays. Robust models are now needed to enable a better understanding of the electronic response of carbon nanotubes. We use time-dependent density functional theory to derive a two-fluid two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic model describing the collective response of a multiwalled carbon nanotube with dielectric media embedded inside or surrounding the nanotube.

We study plasmon hybridization of the nanotube system in the UV range, the stopping force for ion channelling, the dynamical image potential for fast ions, channelled diclusters and point dipoles, and the energy loss for ions with oblique trajectories. Comparisons are made of results obtained from the 2D hydrodynamic model with those obtained from an extension of the 3D Kitagawa model to cylindrical geometries.