Nanostructural instability of single-walled carbon nanotubes during electron beam induced shrinkage

The diameter of a single-walled carbon nanotube shrunk at an increasingly faster rate under electron beam irradiation in a transmission electron microscope. The relationship between the radius of the single-walled carbon nanotube and the irradiation time demonstrates that the shrinkage is much faster than that predicted by current simulations. The results indicate that a curvature effect on the nanoscale and an energetic beam-induced soft mode and lattice instability effect, which were underestimated or neglected in the existing simulations are the primary driving force for the shrinkage.