CNT STRUCTURE AND CLASSIFICATION

At an atomic level, graphene has the honeycomb structure shown in the Fig 2.2,where the
hexagonal corners denote the location of carbon atoms and the lines depict carboncarbon
bonds. Lattice basis vectors are a1 and a2, as shown, and the relative position vector is
C=na1+ma2, where m, n are integers. A carbon nanotube can be formed by wrapping the
graphene sheet into a cylinder (of course, carbon nanotubes form naturally in, for example,
the arc discharge of carbon electrodes and are not made by literally rolling graphene sheets
into cylinders). Obviously, the cylinder can be formed by wrapping the sheet along any
preferred axis. In the Fig 2.2, the red arrow connects the hexagons with indices (0,0) and
(9,4). This vector becomes the circumference of the SWCNT.The nanotube diameter equals
the length of its vector magnitude divided by . Structures shown with red labels are
metallic or semimetallic while those shown with black labels are semiconducting. The carbon
nanotubes can be characterized by the dual index (n, m ) , where (n,0) for zigzag CNs,(m,

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 2. CNT STRUCTURE AND CLASSIFICATION

m ) for armchair CNs, and , (n, m ) (0 < n 6= m) for chiral nanotubes. Armchair and zigzag
types are basically achiral, meaning they do not have a distinct mirror-image, like left and
right hands. All other tubes, named (m,n), where m does not equal n , and neither is 0, are
chiral , and have left- and right- handed variants.

The resultant radius a of a carbon nanotube is given by the following formula where
b=0.142nm is the interatomic distance in graphene.

3b m2 +n2 +mn
a= 2
For m=n= 40, the cross sectional radius ais 2.7 nm .

Carbon nanotubes can be either metallic or semiconducting, depending on their geometry

(i.e., on m, n). Armchair CNs are always metallic (they exhibit no energy bandgap), as are
zigzag CNs with n=3q, where q is an integer. Other configurations of zigzag carbon nan-
otubes are semiconducting. Only metallic CNTs are considered here. For chiral nanotubes,
they are metallic when (2n+m)/3 is an integer, otherwise, semiconducting.

Department of Electronics Engineering 5

 Chapter 3

CIRCUIT MODEL FOR TWO

NANOTUBE TRANSMISSION LINE

Figure 3.1: Two nanotube transmission line[2]

In communications and electronic engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable

designed to carry alternating current of radio frequency, that is, currents with a frequency
high enough that their wave nature must be taken into account. Transmission lines are
used for purposes such as connecting radio transmitters and receivers with their antennas,
distributing cable television signals,etc. In Fig 3.1, two nanotubes, each of diameter d, lie
parallel to each other. They are separated by a distance of W. Only the differential mode

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 3. CIRCUIT MODEL FOR TWO NANOTUBE TRANSMISSION LINE

Figure 3.2: RF circuit model of two nanotube transmission line[2]

is considered here. The transmission line is to be further converted into an antenna. The
equivalent RF Circuit model of the two nanotube transmission line is given in Fig 3.2.

The important parameters concerning Transmission Line Model shown in Fig 3.2 are
discussed below:

3.1 Kinetic Inductance

The kinetic inductance is calculated by first calculating the kinetic energy per unit length
and equates that with the (1/2)LI 2 energy of the kinetic inductance. The kinetic energy per
unit length in a 1-D wire is the sum of the kinetic energies of the left movers and right movers.
If there is a net current in the wire, then there are more left movers than right movers, say.
If the Fermi level of the left movers is raised by e/2, and the Fermi-level of the right
movers is decreased by the same amount, then the current in the 1-D wire is I = e2 /h.
The net increase in energy of the system is the excess number of electrons (N = e/2) in
the left vs. right moving states times the energy added per electron = e/2. Here is the

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 3. CIRCUIT MODEL FOR TWO NANOTUBE TRANSMISSION LINE

single particle energy level spacing which is related to Fermi velocity through = ~vF 2/L.
From this the excess kinetic energy is found out and equated with the 1/2LI 2 energy of the
kinetic inductance.

h
LK = 2e2 vF

Taking Fermi velocity for graphene and also carbon nanotubes as vF = 8 105 m/s , we
get LK =16nH/m

The kinetic inductance always dominates over the magnetic inductance. The kinetic in-
ductance has a simple physical origin as well. It is due to the charge-carrier inertia: electrons
due not instantaneously respond to an applied electric field; there is some delay. For periodic
electric fields, the electron velocity lags the electric field in phase, i.e., the current lags the
voltage in phase. This appears as an inductance.

3.2 Quantum Capacitance

In a quantum electron gas (in a box in 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D), it is not possible to add an
electron with energy less than the Fermi energy EF . One must add an electron at an available
quantum state above EF . In a 1-D system of length , the spacing between quantum states
is given by:

where L is the length of the system. By equating this energy cost with an effective quantum
capacitance, CQ ,
e2
CQ
= E
2e2
And from the above equation, Quantum Capacitance is derived. CQ = hvF

Substituting the values, we get CQ 100aF/m

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 3. CIRCUIT MODEL FOR TWO NANOTUBE TRANSMISSION LINE

3.3 Electrostatic Capacitance

Figure 3.3: A nanotube lying above a ground plane[3]

The electrostatic capacitance between a wire and a ground plane as shown in the Fig 3.3
is

Substituting the values, CE 50aF/m

3.4 Wave velocity

The wave velocity of a (any) transmission line with inductance L per unit length and

capacitance C per unit length is simply 1/ LC. The wave velocity in a transmission line
is generally c i.e. the speed of light. However in our case, as the kinetic inductance is
a dominating factor, the wave velocity is reduced. The wave velocity is 0.01c . The wave
velocity is about a hundred times less than the speed of light. As a result, slow wave property
is developed.

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 3. CIRCUIT MODEL FOR TWO NANOTUBE TRANSMISSION LINE

3.5 Characteristic impedance

The characteristic impedance or surge impedance of a uniform transmission line, usually
written Zc , is the ratio of the amplitudes of voltage and current of a single wave propagating
along the line; that is, a wave travelling in one direction in the absence of reflections in the
q
other direction. Normally, the equation for characteristic impedance is Zc = CL where L
and C are the effective inductance and capacitance of the transmission line. In our case, the
h
equation becomes Zc 2e2
= 12k .
Radiation Resistance is estimated to be around 0.04. This explains the low efficiency
when a single SWCNT is used as CNT antenna.

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 Chapter 4

CARBON NANOTUBE ANTENNA

IN HIGH FREQUENCY RANGE

The kinetic inductance is found to be much larger than the traditional magnetic inductance
of transmission line(TL) section. On the other hand, the quantum capacitance is nearly of
the same order of the electrostatic capacitance of the transmission line section. This property
has two main effects on electromagnetic wave propagation along the CNT transmission line:
slow wave propagation and high characteristic impedance. The slow wave propagation along
conducting CNTs and the high conductivity compared with metallic conductors like copper
make these structures competitive candidates for high frequency applications where the
dimensions should be comparable to the propagation wavelength. This property can be of
great importance in reducing the size of antenna and passive circuits. The main problem in
using CNT as a TL section or an antenna structure is the corresponding high characteristic
impedance i.e. 12k. To reduce the characteristic impedance of CNT TL, CNT bundles
were introduced. This CNT bundle is a set of parallel single wall CNTs.

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Model Engineering College
CHAPTER 4. CARBON NANOTUBE ANTENNA IN HIGH FREQUENCY RANGE

Figure 4.1: Frequency vs. efficiency graphs of a single SWCNT and a bundle of SWCNT[4]

In the Fig 4.1 , the dashed line represents the efficiency when a single SWCNT was used
as a CNT antenna while the solid line represents that of a bundle of parallel SWCNTs being
used as CNT antenna. The efficiency of a bundle antenna can be 30 to 40 dB higher than
that of a single SWCNT dipole antenna. Of course, all performance indicators of the bundle
dipole antenna depend on the SWCNT diameter, the number of tubes included in the bundle,
bundle length, as well as operating frequency.

However, attenuation of surface wave is observed at lower range of the tera hertz region.A
lower frequency limit of around 100GHz exists for using CNT bundle dipole antenna. A
structure has been proposed in the upcoming section to enhance radiation in this frequency
range.

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 Chapter 5

TERA HERTZ RANGE

Terahertz radiation, also called THz, consists of electromagnetic waves at frequencies from
0.3 to 3 terahertz (THz). The term applies to electromagnetic radiation with frequencies
between the high-frequency edge of the millimeter wave band, 300 gigahertz (31011 Hz), and
the low frequency edge of the far-infrared light band, 3000 GHz (31012 Hz). Corresponding
wavelengths of radiation in this band range from 1 mm to 0.1 mm (or 100m). Technology for
generating and manipulating it is in its infancy, and is a subject of active research.This range
represents the region in the electromagnetic spectrum that the frequency of electromagnetic
radiation becomes too high to be measured by directly counting cycles using electronic
counters, and must be measured by the proxy properties of wavelength and energy. Similarly,
in this frequency range the generation and modulation of coherent electromagnetic signals
ceases to be possible by the conventional electronic devices used to generate radio waves and
microwaves, and requires new devices and techniques.As of 2012 viable sources of terahertz
radiation are gyrotron, backward wave oscillator (BWO), far infrared laser (FIR laser),
quantum cascade laser, free electron laser (FEL), synchrotron light sources, photomixing
sources, etc.

The earths atmosphere is a strong absorber of terahertz radiation in specific water vapor
absorption bands, so the range of terahertz radiation is limited enough to affect its usefulness
in long-distance communications. However, at distances of 10 meters the band may still allow
many useful applications in imaging and construction of high bandwidth wireless networking
systems, especially indoor systems. In addition, producing and detecting coherent terahertz

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 5. TERA HERTZ RANGE

radiation remains technically challenging, though inexpensive commercial sources now exist
in the 0.3 to 1.0 THz range (the lower part of the spectrum), including gyrotrons, backward
wave oscillators, and resonant-tunneling diodes.

Unlike X-rays, terahertz radiation has a relatively low photon energy for damaging tissues
and DNA. Some frequencies of terahertz radiation can penetrate several millimeters of tissue
with low water content (e.g., fatty tissue) and reflect back. Terahertz radiation can also
detect differences in water content and density of a tissue.

Department of Electronics Engineering 14

 Chapter 6

PROPOSED CNT ANTENNA

STRUCTURE

Figure 6.1: Proposed CNT Antenna structure[1]

A new antenna configuration is proposed to operate efficiently in the sub-terahertz fre-

quency range. (10 to 1000 GHz).

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 6. PROPOSED CNT ANTENNA STRUCTURE

This structure is composed of a bundle of SWCNT surrounded by two dielectric layers.

The inner one is foam with relative permittivity close to unity while the outer one is a
metamaterial layer with relative permittivity much less than unity as depicted in Fig 6.1.
Here, a bundle of parallel CNTs is densely packed within a cylinder of radius R0 and is
surrounded by a foam layer of relative permittivity r1 1 and outer radius R1 . The
metamaterial layer of inner radius R1 and outer radius R2 has a relative permittivity r2
such that 0 < r2 < 1. The metamaterial layer has the effect of reducing the propagation
constant of the current wave. This increases the resonant length of the antenna, and as a
result, the radiation resistance and radiation efficiency are enhanced. The main role of the
foam layer is to allow the designer to choose the inner radius of the metamaterial layer such
as to facilitate the realization of the required layer permittivity. The metamaterial layer is
merely a homogeneous dielectric (or foam) layer loaded with a lattice of thin longitudinal
wires of dimensions much less than the applied wavelength. Metamaterial planar layers have
been realized in the terahertz range.

The effective axial surface impedance consists of a resistance in series with an inductance,
known as the kinetic inductance . Now with reference to Fig. 6.1 , the proposed antenna
structure is composed of four regions: a cylindrical region of radius R0 and conductivity
3d , a foam dielectric region, a metamaterial region with 0 < r2 < 1, and the outer space
region. It will be shown by the following analysis that the metamaterial layer introduces a
capacitive impedance that counteracts the CNT kinetic inductance. The smaller the r2 ,
the larger the capacitive impedance.This reduces the slow wave property of the surface wave.

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 6. PROPOSED CNT ANTENNA STRUCTURE

Figure 6.2: Frequency vs. attenuation constant graph of SWCNT antenna with(solid line)
and without(dashed line) metamaterial jacket[1]

Attenuation of surface wave is observed at lower range of the tera hertz region.A lower fre-
quency limit of around 100GHz exists for using CNT bundle dipole antenna.The attenuation
constants have been reduced by a factor of 3 due to the metamaterial in Fig 6.2.

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 6. PROPOSED CNT ANTENNA STRUCTURE

Figure 6.3: Frequency vs. radiation resistance and efficiency of SWCNT antenna with (solid
line) and without (dashed line) metamaterial jacket[1]

The enhancement of both radiation resistance and radiation efficiency due to the metama-
terial layer is clear in Fig 6.3. A metamaterial jacket with r2 = 0.1 improves the efficiency
by 2 to 4 dB over the frequency range considered. the radiation resistance Rr at 100 GHz
increases from 26.5 to 111.6 due to the metamaterial jacket.

Department of Electronics Engineering 18

 Chapter 7

APPLICATIONS OF CNT
ANTENNA

7.1 Solution to Nanointerconnect Problem

Progress to date on nanoelectronics has been significant. Essentially, all devices needed to
make the equivalent of a modern digital or analog circuit out of nanotubes and/or nanowires
have been demonstrated in prototype experiments, and elementary logic circuits have been
demonstrated However, one of the most important unsolved problems in nanotechnology is
how to make electrical contact from nanoelectronic devices to the macroscopic world, with-
out giving up on the potential circuit density achievable with nanoelectronics. All of the
nanotube and nanowire devices developed to date have been contacted by lithographically
fabricated electrodes. A canonical research theme is to fabricate a nanodevice, contact it
with electrodes fabricated with electron-beam lithography, then publish a paper reporting
the electrical properties. This is not a scalable technique for massively parallel processing
integrated nanosystems. The potential high-density circuitry possible with nanowires and
nanotubes will not be realized if each nanowire and nanotube is contacted lithographically.
One potential solution to this problem is to use wireless interconnects, which can be densely
packed. If each interconnect is connected to a nanotube of a different length (hence dif-
ferent resonant frequency), then the problem of multiplexing input/ output signals can be
translated from the spatial domain to the frequency domain, hence relaxing the need for

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 7. APPLICATIONS OF CNT ANTENNA

high resolution (high cost) lithography for interconnects. This is in contrast to previous ap-
proaches which, ultimately, rely on lithography and its inherent limitations to make electrical
contact to nanosystems. This idea is indicated schematically in Fig.7

Figure 7.1: Possible scheme for wireless interconnection to integrated nanosystems[2]

7.2 Wireless Interconnect to Nanosensors

Another application is in the area of sensing. For example, nanodevices could be used as
chemical and biological sensors, sensitive to their local chemical environment. A nanotube
could be used as an antenna to couple to these nanosensors, without the need for lithograph-
ically fabricated electronics. This would be an RFID technique, where each component of

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Model Engineering College CHAPTER 7. APPLICATIONS OF CNT ANTENNA

the wireless systems was made of a nanodevice, including the antenna, thus eliminating the
need for any lithography at all. Such devices even potentially could be implanted into living
organisms to monitor biological activity in real time in vivo.

Department of Electronics Engineering 21

 References

[1]Samir F Mahmoud , Ayed R Alami ,Characteristics of a New Carbon Nanotube Antenna

Structure With Enhanced Radiation in the Sub- Terahertz range,IEEE TRANSACTIONS
ON NANOTECHNOLOGY, VOL. 11, NO. 3, pp 640-645, MAY 2012
[2]Peter J. Burke ,Shengdong Li and Zhen Yu, Member, IEEE, Quantitative Theory of
Nanowire and Nanotube Antenna Performance, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NANOTECH-
NOLOGY, VOL. 5, NO. 4, pp 314-334, JULY 2006
[3]P.J.Burke, An RF Circuit Model for Carbon Nanotubes, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
NANOTECHNOLOGY, VOL.2, NO. 1, pp 55-58, MARCH 2003
[4]Yi Huang, Wen-Yan Yin, and Qing Huo Liu, Performance Prediction of Carbon Nan-
otube Bundle Dipole Antennas, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NANOTECHNOLOGY, VOL.
7, NO. 3, pp 331-337, MAY 2008
[5]www.intechopen.com
[6]www.sigmaaldrich.com
[7]www.ks.uiuc.edu
[8]www.wikipedia.com