Room temperature Peierls distortion in small radius nanotubes

D. Connétable (1) , G.-M. Rignanese (2, 3) , J.-C. Charlier (2, 3) , Xavier Blase (1)

1 LPMCN - Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée et Nanostructures
2 UCL PCPM - Unité de Physico-Chimie et de Physique des Matériaux
3 CERMIN - Research Center on Microscopic and Nanoscopic Electronic Devices and Materials

By means of {\it ab initio} simulations, we investigate the phonon band structure and electron-phonon coupling in small 4-Å\ diameter nanotubes. We show that both the C(5,0) and C(3,3) tubes undergo above room temperature a Peierls transition mediated by an acoustical long-wavelength and an optical $q=2k_F$ phonons respectively. In the armchair geometry, we verify that the electron-phonon coupling parameter $\lambda$ originates mainly from phonons at $q=2k_F$ and is strongly enhanced when the diameter decreases. These results question the origin of superconductivity in small diameter nanotubes.

Mots clés: nanotubes; superconductivity; ab initio calculations; theory

Domaines: Supraconductivité [cond-mat.supr-con]

D. Connétable, G.-M. Rignanese, J.-C. Charlier, Xavier Blase. Room temperature Peierls distortion in small radius nanotubes. 2005. ⟨hal-00003793⟩