Commentary: Carbon Nanotubes, CdSe Nanocrystals, and Electron-Electron Interaction

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Nano Letters, this short commentary discusses a scientific issue of current interest, increased electron-electron interactions in nanostructures. The two major factors of reduced dimensionality and low screening are analyzed. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are molecular in many of their properties and show strong electron-electron interactions. In specific circumstances, excited-state decay by exciton generation rather than phonon generation can be efficient in carbon nanotubes.