Nonlinear Electron Transport Effects in a Chiral Carbon Nanotube

Abstract

We present a novel, general, semiclassical theory of electron transport in a carbon nanotube exposed to an external electric field. The charge carriers are treated in the framework of the simplified tight-binding model. Simultaneous exposure to rapidly oscillating (ac) and constant (dc) electric fields is considered to exemplify our theory. Nonlinear and chiral effects are found, and their interaction is delineated. We predict the effect of an ac electric field on the magnitude and the direction of the total time-averaged current.