Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes as Gigahertz Oscillators

Abstract

The retraction energy of a multiwalled carbon nanotube with an extruded core causes the core to oscillate with respect to its fully retracted position where the van der Waals potential energy is minimized. This phenomenon, together with the available nanotechnology, leads to the creation of nanomechanical systems of operating frequency up to several gigahertz.