Helicity dependent selection rules and correlated electron transport properties of double-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We analytically demonstrate helicity determined selection rules for intershell tunneling in double‐walled nanotubes with commensurate (c‐DWNTs) and incommensurate (i‐DWNTs) shells. For i‐DWNTs the coupling is negligible between lowest energy subbands, but it becomes important as the higher subbands become populated. In turn the elastic mean free path of i‐DWNTs is reduced for increasing energy, with additional suppression at subband onsets. At low energies, a Luttinger liquid theory for DWNTs with metallic shells is derived. Interaction effects are more pronounced in i‐DWNTs.