Inelastic Quantum Transport and Peierls-Like Mechanism in Carbon Nanotubes

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, variant Planck's over 2piomega0/2, above (below) the charge neutrality point. This mechanism, which is prevented by Pauli blocking at low bias voltages, is activated at bias voltages on the order of variant Planck's over 2piomega0.