The Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

This chapter provides a broad overview of the electronic properties of carbon nanotubes, primarily from the point of view of the properties of individual, isolated tubes. The chapter is organized according to the increasing levels of complexity found in nanotube electronics. First, the parent material graphite is briefly introduced, followed by a discussion of the electronic properties of individual, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Next, the experimentally observed properties of both metallic and semiconducting SWNTs are discussed in detail. An introduction to many-body effects and optoelectronic properties of SWNTs is also provided. Towards the end of the chapter, more complex nanotubes and nanotube aggregates are discussed, since these types of samples derive many of their characteristics from SWNT properties. The chapter concludes with a short survey of near-term applications which take advantage of nanotube electronic properties.