page_title: Optical properties of carbon nanotubes
section_title: Zigzag and armchair tubes
hierarchical_section_title: Optical properties of carbon nanotubes / Geometric structure / Zigzag and armchair tubes
caption_attribution_description: English: zin-zag nanotube
context_page_description: The optical properties of carbon nanotubes are highly relevant for materials science. The way those materials interact with electromagnetic radiation is unique in many respects, as evidenced by their peculiar absorption, photoluminescence, and Raman spectra.
  Carbon nanotubes are unique "one-dimensional" materials, whose hollow fibers have a unique and highly ordered atomic and electronic structure, and can be made in a wide range of dimension. The diameter typically varies from 0.4 to 40 nm. However, the length can reach 55.5 cm, implying a length-to-diameter ratio as high as 132,000,000:1; which is unequaled by any other material. Consequently, all the electronic, optical, electrochemical and mechanical properties of the carbon nanotubes are extremely anisotropic and tunable.
  Applications of carbon nanotubes in optics and photonics are still less developed than in other fields. Some properties that may lead to practical use include tuneability and wavelength selectivity. Potential applications that have been demonstrated include light emitting diodes, bolometers and optoelectronic memory.
context_section_description: Tubes of type (n,m) with n=m (chiral angle = 30°) are called "armchair" and those with m=0 (chiral angle = 0°) "zigzag".  These tubes have mirror symmetry, and can be viewed as stacks of simple closed paths ("zigzag" and "armchair" paths, respectively).
caption: Zigzag nanotube
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