Atoms Light Up Very Rapidly Near Nanotubes

Just as the sharp point of a lightning rod modifies the electrical properties of space above a building, so too will certain highly curved (on a nanoscopic scale) surfaces modify the electromagnetic properties of physical vacuum in their vicinity. This changes the behavior of an atom near nanobodies (quantum dots, nanospheres, nanocylinders, etc.). Generally called the Purcell effect, the phenomenon happens because an excited electron inside the outside atom strongly senses the modified structure of physical vacuum near surfaces in its vicinity.

New calculations performed by physicists at the Belarusian State University in Minsk show that due to unique conducting properties of carbon nanotubes the fluorescence rate of an excited atom or molecule in their vicinity should be enhanced by as much as million, a much greater effect than for other geometries studied. The Purcell effect has been observed in many of these other cases, and the Belarusian scientists (contact Prof. Sergei Maksimenko, maksim@bsu.by) hope to find collaborators to test their nanotube hypothesis. The hope is to exploit the enhanced spontaneous decay rate to control the behavior of nuclei, atoms, or organic molecules outside or inside nanotubes. (Bondarev et al., Physical Review Letters, 9 September 2002.)