Electronic structure of carbon nanotube thin films with nanoscale interfaces under an electric field

Abstract

We studied the electronic structure of nanoscale interfaces of semiconducting carbon nanotube (CNT) thin films under an external electric field, using first-principles total-energy calculations within the framework of the density functional theory. Our calculations show that the distribution of the accumulated carriers strongly depends on the CNT species, arrangement, and distance. Hole injection into the CNT thin films with a particular CNT arrangement induces an unusual electric field in nanoscale interfaces owing to the electronic structures and arrangements of constituent CNTs. We showed that the capacitance of the CNT thin films also depends on the arrangement of the CNT relative to the electrode and the size of the nanoscale interfaces.