Effects of uniaxial strain on the band structure of boron nitride nanotubes: a first principles study

Department of Applied Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610054 Chengdu, P.R. China

Corresponding author: zgwang@uestc.edu.cn

Received: 2 October 2008
Accepted: 19 January 2009
Published online: 27 March 2009

Abstract

First principles density functional calculations are used to study the uniaxial strain effects on the energy band structures of single- and multi-walled boron nitride nanotubes. Simulation results show that tensile strain induces a slight decrease in band gaps, while small and large compressive strains induce slight increases and decreases of band gaps, respectively. The maximum change of the band gap is ~0.5 eV. The band structures of all the nanotubes are not sensitive to uniaxial strain, which means that the boron nitride nanotubes could be used in blue and UV light-emitting devices under large uniaxial strain.