Issue 42, 2014

Mechanical strain can switch the sign of quantum capacitance from positive to negative

Abstract

Quantum capacitance is a fundamental quantity that can directly reveal many-body interactions among electrons and is expected to play a critical role in nanoelectronics. One of the many tantalizing recent physical revelations about quantum capacitance is that it can possess a negative value, hence allowing for the possibility of enhancing the overall capacitance in some particular material systems beyond the scaling predicted by classical electrostatics. Using detailed quantum mechanical simulations, we found an intriguing result that mechanical strains can tune both signs and values of quantum capacitance. We used a small coaxially gated carbon nanotube as a paradigmatical capacitor system and showed that, for the range of mechanical strain considered, quantum capacitance can be adjusted from very large positive to very large negative values (in the order of plus/minus hundreds of attofarads), compared to the corresponding classical geometric value (0.31035 aF). This finding opens novel avenues in designing quantum capacitance for applications in nanosensors, energy storage, and nanoelectronics.

Graphical abstract: Mechanical strain can switch the sign of quantum capacitance from positive to negative

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
16 Jul 2014
Accepted
08 Sep 2014
First published
16 Sep 2014

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014,16, 22962-22967

Author version available

Mechanical strain can switch the sign of quantum capacitance from positive to negative

Y. Hanlumyuang, X. Li and P. Sharma, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 22962 DOI: 10.1039/C4CP03131H

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