The density of states in the vicinity of the Fermi level of single-wall carbon nanotubes can be expressed in terms of a universal relationship that depends only on whether the nanotube is metallic or semiconducting. We compare the predictions of this approximate relationship with densities of states calculated using first-principles band structure results. These comparisons show that this approximation works well for energies within about 1 eV of the Fermi level.

• Received 13 March 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.2506