Inelastic Quantum Transport and Peierls-like Mechanism in Carbon Nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical study of inelastic quantum transport in carbon nanotubes, revealing a novel phonon emission mechanism that induces an energy gap at specific bias voltages, advancing understanding of electron-phonon interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a new mechanism involving optical phonon emission that causes an energy gap in electron transport in carbon nanotubes, using a many-body Fock space approach.

Findings

Energy gap opens at half the phonon energy due to optical phonon emission.

Mechanism is activated at bias voltages around the phonon energy.

Pauli blocking prevents the mechanism at low bias voltages.

Abstract

We report on a theoretical study of inelastic quantum transport in $(3m,0)$ carbon nanotubes. By using a many-body description of the electron-phonon interaction in Fock space, a novel mechanism involving optical phonon emission (absorption) is shown to induce an unprecedented energy gap opening at half the phonon energy, $\hbar\omega_{0}/2$, above (below) the charge neutrality point. This mechanism, which is prevented by Pauli blocking at low bias voltages, is activated at bias voltages in the order of $\hbar\omega_{0}$.