Polarization as a new parameter determining the laser-induced dynamics of carbon nanotubes studied by ab initio simulations

Abstract

Abstract It is well known that the laser-induced dynamics of a system is determined by three laser parameters, namely, wavelength, pulse width, and intensity. In this study, the laser polarization is presented as a new parameter that determines the dynamics of highly anisotropic materials. By performing first-principles electron-ion dynamics simulations assuming a laser wavelength of 800\xa0nm, a full width at half-maximum of 10 fs, and a field intensity of 4\xa0V/A, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were found to be fragile or robust when the polarization was parallel or perpendicular, respectively, to the tube axis. This behavior was observed for both zigzag and armchair CNTs and is thus expected to be only weakly dependent on CNT chirality. The obtained results are anticipated to encourage experimental efforts to select CNTs of a particular orientation using pulsed lasers with controlled polarization.