Molecular dynamics simulation of inertial trapping-induced atomic scale mass transport inside single walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

The forced transverse vibration of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) embedded with atomic-size particles was investigated using molecular dynamic simulations. The particles inside the cylindrical cantilever can be trapped near the antinodes or at the vicinity of the SWNT tip. The trapping phenomenon is highly sensitive to the external driving frequencies such that even very small changes in driving frequency can have a strong influence on the probability of the location of the particle inside the SWNT. The trapping effect could potentially be employed to realize the atomic scale control of particle position inside an SWNT via the finite adjustment of the external driving frequency. It may also be suggested that the trapping phenomenon could be utilized to develop high-sensitive mass detectors based on a SWNT resonator.