Chiral currents in gold nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper investigates electron currents in gold chiral nanotubes, revealing they have stronger chiral currents and magnetic flux than carbon nanotubes, with variations depending on tube chirality and bias conditions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed comparison of electron currents and magnetic flux in gold versus carbon nanotubes, highlighting the enhanced properties of gold nanotubes.

Findings

Gold nanotubes exhibit greater chiral currents than carbon nanotubes.

Magnetic flux inside gold nanotubes surpasses that of carbon nanotubes.

Chirality influences the magnetic flux and current magnitude in gold nanotubes.

Abstract

Results are presented for the electron current in gold chiral nanotubes (AuNTs). Starting from the band structure of (4,3) and (5,3) AuNTs, we find that the magnitude of the chiral currents are greater than those found in carbon nanotubes. We also calculate the associated magnetic flux inside the tubes and find this to be higher than the case of carbon nanotubes. Although (4,3) and (5,3) AuNTs carry transverse momenta of similar magnitudes, the low-bias magnetic flux carried by the former is far greater than that carried by the latter. This arises because the low-bias longitudinal current carried by a (4,3) AuNT is significantly smaller than that of a (5,3) AuNT.