Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: The threefold symmetry of planar boron nitride (BN), the III-V analog to graphene, prohibits an electric polarization in its ground state, but this symmetry is broken when the sheet is wrapped to form a BN nanotube. We show that this leads to an electric polarization along the nanotube axis which is controlled by the quantum mechanical boundary conditions on its electronic states around the tube circumference. Thus the macroscopic dipole moment has an intrinsically nonlocal quantum mechanical origin from the wrapped dimension. We formulate this novel phenomenon using the Berry's phase approach and discuss its experimental consequences.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Authors: E. J. Mele, Petr Král
Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, Weizmann Institute of Science
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2081518143