Energy relaxation of hot electrons in semiconducting carbon nanotubes

We study the energy loss rate, P, of hot 1D electrons in semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes via electron coupling to stretching and breathing phonons. A brief description of the theoretical formalism is presented and numerical calculations of P are performed for electron temperatures in the range of View the MathML source for various values of the Fermi level. At low electron temperatures View the MathML source electrons dissipate energy to the lattice via their coupling to stretching phonons while at higher temperatures electron coupling to breathing phonons is the dominant mechanism for energy loss. In both cases P is exponentially suppressed with 1/TE. Screening of the electron–phonon interaction reduces the magnitude of P by over an order of magnitude. The energy relaxation time associated with electron scattering by breathing phonons is calculated as a function of the nanotube radius for several values of the Fermi level. Our findings are compared with available experimental results.