An oscillator in a carbon peapod controllable by an external electric field: A molecular dynamics study

Abstract

We investigate the peapod structure of C59N+at(10, 10) single-walled carbon nanotubes by simulation, and discover that the ball initial velocity could be controlled by the external impulse electric field, then becoming an oscillator, of which the period could be tuned in a relatively large range of 80-18ps by adjusting the ball motion in the initial stage. The SWNT length could also be used to tune the period of the oscillator. Based on these results, two potential devices, controllable period and constant period systems are proposed. For the first device, the ball motion is adjusted step by step and the period decreases from 80-100ps to 18-20ps or increases from 18-20ps to 80-100ps. For the second one, a relatively high constant period within 20-25ps could be controlled by applying a much longer period signal generator (1ns) from the external electric field, indicating a robust signal magnification. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.