On the role of interband surface plasmons in carbon nanotubes

We review the properties of collective surface excitations—excitons and interband plasmons—in single-walled and double-walled carbon nanotubes. We show that an electrostatic field applied perpendicular to the nanotube axis can control the exciton-plasmon coupling in individual small-diameter (≲nm) singlewalled nanotubes, both in the linear excitation regime and in the non-linear excitation regime with the photoinduced biexcitonic states formation. For double-walled carbon nanotubes, we report a profound effect of interband surface plasmons on the inter-tube Casimir force at tube separations similar to their equilibrium distances. Strong overlapping plasmon resonances from both tubes warrant their stronger attraction. Nanotube chiralities possessing such collective excitation features will result in forming the most favorable innerouter tube combination in double-walled carbon nanotubes. These findings pave the way for the development of new generation of tunable optoelectronic and nano-electromechanical device applications with carbon nanotubes.