Surface plasmon polariton amplification in a single-walled carbon nanotube.

The interaction of a surface plasmon polariton wave of the far-infrared regime propagating in a single-walled carbon nanotube with a drift current is theoretically investigated. It is shown that under the synchronism condition a surface plasmon polariton amplification mechanism is implemented due to the transfer of electromagnetic energy from a drift current wave into a terahertz surface wave propagating along the surface of a single-walled carbon nanotube. Numerical calculations show that for a typical carbon nanotube surface plasmon polariton amplification coefficient reaches huge values of the order of 10 сm, which makes it possible to create a carbon-nanotube-based spaser.