The electrical magnetochiral effect in carbon nanotubes

Most carbon nanotubes consist of a helical arrangement of carbon atoms. Consequently, tubes of left- and right-handed configuration should exist. Their chiral character is recovered in the magnetoresistance as an odd power contribution in the magnetic field and the current, i.e., depending on the relative orientation of these two quantities. Electrical transport measurements on single-walled carbon nanotubes being subject to an external magnetic field show this dependence. An analytical quantum-mechanical model based on the picture of a free electron confined to a helix is provided in order to yield indications of the microscopic origin of the observed electrical magnetochiral effect.