Electronic structure of carbon nanotubes

This paper is a review of the theoretical and experimental studies devoted so far to the electronic structure of pure carbon nanotubes, including single-wall, multiwall, and ropes of single-wall nanotubes. A universal picture of the band structure of single-wall nanotubes is obtained by exploiting a particular helical symmetry. A brief description of the optical properties of the nanotubes is also presented. Potential applications of carbon nanotubes in nanoelectronics are described. (C) 2003 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.