Carbon Nanotubes Oscillation under Electric Field

Oscillation mechanism of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under various external electric fields is investigated by performing first principles molecular dynamics (MD) calculations on closed and open ended CNTs. From MD calculations we observe that in addition to the strength of the induced dipole moment temperature chirality and moment of inertia of a CNT affect its oscillation frequency We propose a procedure to discriminate CNTs with different moments of inertia and/or chiralities based on their different oscillation frequencies The implication of our results in the process of nanotube insertion into biological cells where the existing field across the cell membrance facilitates CNT penetration is also discussed (C) 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics