Carbon Nanotubes as Molecular Quantum Wires

Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical molecules with a diameter of as little as 1 nanometer and a length up to many micrometers. They consist of only carbon atoms, and can essentially be thought of as a single layer of graphite that has been wrapped into a cylinder, (See figure 1 and the article by Thomas Ebbesen in PHYSICS TODAY, June 1996, page 26).