Analogues of Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation in an array of noninteracting nanotubes

Abstract

We consider the mechanism for generating radiation whose source is formed by surface currents modulated in the variable z - vt in an array of noninteracting parallel nanotubes. The nanotubes are oriented perpendicular to the axis O_z, and the velocity v exceeds the velocity of light in the medium. On the qualitative level, the radiation process under study is analogous to Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation by a system of dipoles. We show that intense SHF and THz radiation can be generated using this method. We estimate the magnitude of millimetric radiation obtainable using an array of nanotubes.