Effective-mass theory of collapsed carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Band structure is theoretically studied in partially flattened carbon nanotubes within an effective-mass scheme. Effects of inter-wall interactions are shown to be important in non-chiral nanotubes such as zigzag and armchair and can essentially be neglected in chiral nanotubes except in the close vicinity of non-chiral tubes. In fact, inter-wall interactions significantly modify states depending on relative displacement in the flattened region in non-chiral tubes and can convert semiconducting tubes into metallic and vice versa. They diminish rapidly when the chiral angle deviates from that of the zigzag or armchair tube, although the decay is slower in the vicinity of armchair tubes.