Stability and tunable electronic structure of planar phosphorus nanotubes

Abstract

The stability and electronic properties of planar phosphorous nanotubes with different chirality are investigated within the formulation of density functional theory. Armchair phosphorous nanotube (APNT) is found to be energetically most favorable with very small formation energy (0.08 eV). APNT also possess highest tensile strength (∼2 GPa), among the considered nanotubes. Armchair and helical PNTs are semiconducting while zigzag PNT is metallic in nature. We found that the application of strain and external electric field greatly modifies the electronic band structure of given PNTs. We believe that planar APNT can be realized and its tunable electronic properties may be useful for nanoelectronics. © 2019 Author(s).