K. A. Dompreh

High frequency conductivity of hot electrons in carbon nanotubes

Abstract High frequency conductivity of hot electrons in undoped single walled achiral Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) under the influence of ac–dc driven fields was considered. We investigated semi-classically Boltzmanns transport equation with and without the presence of the hot electrons’ source by deriving the current densities in CNTs. Plots of the normalized current density versus frequency of ac-field revealed an increase in both the minimum and maximum peaks of normalized current density at lower frequencies as a result of a strong injection of hot electrons. The applied ac-field plays a twofold role of suppressing the space-charge instability in CNTs and simultaneously pumping an energy for lower frequency generation and amplification of THz radiations. These have enormous promising applications in very different areas of science and technology.

External Electric Field Effect on Electrons Transport in Carbon Nanotubes

We consider a simple model of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) subject to external electric field E(t). Using a tight-binding approximation for the description of energy bands of CNTs, together with the standard Boltzmann transport equation and constant relaxation time, we predict the effect of self-induced transparency and absolute negative conductivity. The predicted effects may be useful in diagnostics of carbon nanotubes as well as in the amplification and efficiency conversion of electromagnetic signals.

Amplification of terahertz radiation in carbon nanotubes

We investigate theoretically the feasibility of amplification of terahertz radiation in aligned achiral carbon nanotubes, a zigzag (12,0) and an armchair (10,10) in comparison with a superlattice using a combination of a constant direct current (dc) and a high-frequency alternate current (ac) electric fields. The electric current density expression is derived using the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation with a constant relaxation time. The electric field is applied along the nanotube axis. Analysis of the current density versus electric field characteristics reveals a negative differential conductivity behavior at high frequency, as well as photon assisted peaks. The photon assisted peaks are about an order of magnitude higher in the carbon nanotubes compared to the superlattice. These strong phenomena in carbon nanotubes can be used to obtain domainless amplification of terahertz radiation at room temperature.