Using proton beams as a diagnostic tool in carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We investigate spatial distributions of protons of the initial energy of 10-40 MeV after channeling through the (6, 4) and (11, 9) single-wall carbon nanotubes of the length of 1 mu m. The proton incident angle is varied between 0 and 1.7 mrad. The spatial distributions of channeled protons are generated using a Monte Carlo computer simulation. We investigate how changing the proton incident angle and energy can push the distribution towards the nanotube wall, thus allowing one to probe the wall for impurities. We suggest that redistribution of channeled protons may be used for probing the intercalations and inhomogeneities in the nanotube. (C) Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.