Optics and Spectroscopy
Photon vacuum renormalization and spontaneous decay of an excited atom near a carbon nanotube
Igor V. Bondarev, Gregory Ya. Slepyan, С. А. Максименко
Abstract
A theory of the spontaneous decay process of an excited atom placed inside or outside (near the surface) of a carbon nanotube has been developed. Numerical calculations of the atomic spontaneous decay enhancement factor have been performed for various achiral nanotubes. The effect of the nanotube surface has been demonstrated to dramatically increase the spontaneous decay rate—by 6–7 orders of magnitude—compared with that of the same atom in a vacuum. Such an increase is associated with nonradiative decay via surface excitations in the nanotube. Possible applications of the predicted effect are discussed.