Theory of Nanotube Nanodevices

The paper reviews quantum and classical effects which arise in physics of nanotube devices. Knowledge of nanotube electronic structure has been used for a calculation of quantum capacitance and quantum terms in van der Waals energy. Combining analytical theory and quantum mechanical micromodels I worked out a description for nanoelectromechanical devices, for example, electromechanical switch. The theory takes into account van der Waals forces which show up at the nanoscale and result in appearing of a principal limitation for scaling down NEMS structures. A model, which has been derived for a nanotube device electrostatics, includes an atomistic polarizability of the nanotube in a selfconsistent way. This calculation yields a charge density distribution for given external fields and specific device parameters. On the basis of these main elements of continual compact modeling: quantum mechanical description of the nanotube electronic structure, theory of the van der Waals forces, quantum capacitance and continuum mechanics,– a general theory of nanodevices is proposed.