Low-energy electronic states of carbon nanocones in an electric field

• Published in: Nano-micro letters Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 121 - 125
• Main Authors: Chen, Jun-Liang, Su, Ming-Horng, Hwang, Chi-Chuan, Lu, Jian-Ming, Tsai, Chia-Chang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2010
• Subjects: Engineering; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Carbon Nanocones; Electric field; Low-energy electronic states
• ISSN: 2150-5551; 2311-6706; 2150-5551
• DOI: 10.1007/BF03353629

The low-energy electronic states and energy gaps of carbon nanocones in an electric field are studied using a single-?-band tight-binding model. The analysis considers five perfect carbon nanocones with disclination angles of 60°, 120°, 180°, 240° and 300°, respectively. The numerical results reveal that the low-energy electronic states and energy gaps of a carbon nanocones are highly sensitive to its geometric shape(i.e. the disclination angle and height), and to the direction and magnitude of an electric field. The electric field causes a strong modulation of the state energies and energy gaps of the nanocones, changes their Fermi levels, and induces zero-gap transitions. The energy-gap modulation effect becomes particularly pronounced at higher strength of the applied electric field, and is strongly related to the geometric structure of the nanocone.