Quantum phenomena in the radial thermal expansion of bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes doped with ³He. A giant isotope effect

Abstract

The radial thermal expansion αr of bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes saturated with ³He up to the molar concentration 9.4% has been investigated in the temperature interval 2.1–9.5 K by high-sensitivity capacitance dilatometry. In the interval 2.1–7 K a negative αr was observed, with a magnitude which exceeded the largest negative αr values of pure and ⁴He-saturated nanotubes by three and two orders of magnitude, respectively. The contributions of the two He isotope impurities to the negative thermal expansion of the nanotube bundles are most likely connected with the spatial redistribution of ⁴He and ³He atoms by tunneling at the surface and inside nanotube bundles. The isotope effect turned out to be huge, probably owing to the higher tunneling probability of ³He atoms.