The time-dependent density functional formalism was extended in order to study the microscopic response of defective nanotubes to electronic excitations. The lifetime of electronic excitations in these nanostructures was found to be several orders of magnitude longer than in solids; necessitating the use of excited-state molecular dynamics in order to describe the atomic motion correctly. It was found that electronically excited nanotubes with monatomic vacancies exhibited an unexpected self-healing ability which was intimately linked to their nanometer size.

Can Photo Excitations Heal Defects in Carbon Nanotubes? Y.Miyamoto, S.Berber, M.Yoon, A.Rubio, D.Tománek: Chemical Physics Letters, 2004, 392[1-3], 209-13