Electronic and field emission properties of boron nitride/carbon nanotube superlattices

BN/C nanotube superlattices are quasi one-dimensional heterostructures that show unique physical properties derived from their peculiar geometry. Using state-of-the-art ab initio calculations, we show that BN/C systems can be used for effective band-offset nanodevice engineering, polarization-based devices, and robust field emitters with an efficiency enhanced by up to two orders of magnitude over carbon nanotube systems. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.