Theoretical Study of the Electronic Structure of GaAs Nanotubes

We have performed theoretical calculations to predict the stability and electronic structure of GaAs nanotubes. We have studied the variation of strain energy, radial distribution, buckling, Mulliken pupulation, density of states, and band gap as functions of both radius and helicity of the tube. The strain energies of GaAs nanotubes are comparable to those of other inorganic nanotubes and are insensitive to the tube helicity. The magnitude of buckling decreases with increasing tube radius and is very much sensitive to the tube helicity, being smaller for armchair nanotubes than zigzag tubes. The band gap of both armchair and zigzag tubes decreases with increasing tube radius.