as used in this invention , “ foreign material ” is meant to comprise materials other than carbon that are capable of forming a thread - like structure , and includes metals and organic materials . elements that can be used in the method of example 1 , described below , are cr , fe , co , ni , pd , gd , dy , yb , se , s , sb , and ge ; see , guerret - piecourt , c ., et al ., “ relation between metal electronic structure and morphology of metal compounds inside carbon nanotubes ,” nature , vol . 372 : 761 – 765 ( 1995 ). metals that can be used in the solution chemistry method of example 3 , described below , are bi , pb , cd , ga , li , in , rb , zn , and sn . encapsulating a single protein could also be useful . organic materials that can be used are those that are capable of forming a thread - like material having a solid form at ambient temperatures and pressures enclosed in the internal cavity of the swnt . examples are such biologically active materials as proteins and enzymes , as well as polymer - forming materials . conjugated polymers , such as polyaniline [ see wu , c . - g ., et al ., science , vol . 364 : 1757 ( 1994 )]; low viscosity polymers , such as poly ( methylmethacrylate ) [ see kim , e ., et al ., nature , vol . 376 : 581 ( 1995 )]; and polyacetylene [ see swager , t . m ., acc . chem . res . vol . 31 : 201 ( 1998 )] and other organic materials useful in the form of nano - size solid threads . bonding between the enclosed foreign materials and the highly curved , nearly one dimensional swnt inner surface can be significantly different from bonding to graphite basal surfaces . therefore , a range of absorption energies of atomic and molecular species to the inner surface of swnts can be expected , depending on the nanotube diameter [ pederson , m . r ., et al ., “ nanocapillarity in fullerene tubules ,” phys . rev lett . vol . 69 : 2689 – 2692 ( 1992 ), dujardin , e ., et al ., “ capillarity and wetting of carbon nanotubes ,” science , vol . 265 : 1850 – 1852 ( 1994 ), guerret - piecourt , c ., et al ., supra ]. because carbon nanotubes are capped at their ends by pentagons , [ ebbeson , t . w ., et al ., “ large - scale synthesis of carbon nanotubes ,” nature , vol . 358 : 220 – 221 ( 1992 )], in order to allow for better filling , the capped swnts can be opened , in one embodiment , by exposing the swnts to a reactive gas . according to the present invention the introduction of the foreign material into the swnts can be accomplished either simultaneously with formation of the swnt or after the opening of the capped end or ends of the swnt . in another embodiment , sufficient heat may be applied to the capped swnt so as to open ends of the swnt [ kiang , c . - h ., et al ., “ structural modification of single - layer carbon nanotubes with an electron beam ,” j . phys . chem ., vol . 100 : 3749 – 3752 ( 1996 )]. in still another embodiment , the capped end of the swnt may be exposed to a reactive liquid ( a strong acid such as hcl or hno 3 or a strong base such as ammonia ) in order to open the swnt . in the following examples , high - resolution transmission electron microscopy ( hrtem ) studies were carried out on the synthesized samples . the studies were done on phillips cm200 and cm300 microscopes equipped with gatan slow scan camera and image filter . the cobalt - catalyzed preparation of carbon nanotubes by arc discharge is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 424 , 054 , the description thereof being incorporated herein by reference . in this example , bismuth was vaporized along with cobalt and graphite powder via the arc discharge method . the addition of bismuth as a co - catalyst and as a source for filling swnts presents a unique method and results in a composition different from that disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 424 , 054 . the arc discharge method involved contacting carbon vapor with a transition metal vapor and with the foreign material vapor , preferably in an inert atmosphere . carbon vapor shall mean a gas of carbon atoms , ions or clusters . the carbon vapor can be conveniently produced by thermally vaporizing solid carbon . suitable forms of solid carbon are amorphous carbon , hydrocarbon , graphite , coal , activated or decolorizing carbon or mixtures thereof . the solid carbon can be vaporized by heating carbon using a variety of heating techniques such as electric arc heating , rf induction heating , laser heating , electron beam heating , rf plasma heating or plasma - spray heating . other heating techniques , such as , heating with an oven or using heat generated from chemical reactions , will be known by those skilled in the art ; see cheng , et al ., “ large - scale and low - cost synthesis of single - walled carbon nanotubes by the catalytic pyrolysis of hydrocarbons ”, appl . phys . lett ., vol . 72 : 3282 – 3284 ( 1998 ). preferably , the solid carbon is vaporized by electric - arc heating . preferably , solid carbon in the form of a graphite rod is used as one of the two electrodes in the electric - arc heating process . the synthesis was carried out in an arc discharge chamber . the electrodes used were 6 mm diameter graphite rods , with the anode containing mixtures of , in atomic percentage , graphite powder ( 90 %), cobalt catalyst ( 5 %), and bismuth co - catalyst ( 5 %). bismuth was used to improve the catalytic properties of the primary catalyst for producing high - yield , large diameter swnts and as a source material for filling the nanotubes . an electric arc , running a dc current at 95 a under 400 torr helium , vaporized the carbon , the cobalt catalyst , and the bismuth metal incorporated into the composite anode . incorporation was done by drilling into the anode and filling the hole with the graphite , bismuth , and cobalt powders . in place of powders of metal , one can use metal oxides or other metal compounds . fig1 a and 1 b are hrtems of a 1 . 4 nm diameter swnt entirely filled with a single crystal bismuth nanowire . the filling of the swnt extended throughout the entire stretch of the nanotube ( fig1 a ). a swnt , entirely filled with a single crystal of bismuth of 1 nm inner diameter and 30 nm in length , was synthesized ( fig1 b ). this method produced 20 grams per hour of raw soot with a high content of swnts , greater than about 30 %. the nanotube diameter distribution was measured from hrtem images , which showed the swnts had diameters between about 0 . 7 nm to about 2 nm , 15 % had diameters between about 2 nm to about 7 nm , and 15 % had diameters between about 3 nm to about 7 nm . the filling of the swnts with bismuth metal occurred during the high temperature , estimated to be about 1 , 000 ° c ., gas phase reaction when the bismuth metal incorporated into the composite anode was vaporized with carbon and cobalt in the helium atmosphere . while less than 1 % of the swnts were filled with this method , perhaps due to transport limitations , the extent of filling in a given nanotube suggested a strong capillary attraction for bismuth in small diameter swnts . solid state bismuth metal was used as a starting material and was introduced into swnt by heating . since swnts can be opened by heating ( fig2 a ), nanotube soot was prepared with excess about 5 atomic % bismuth nanoparticle deposits , the soot was heated in air at a rate of 20 ° c . per minute to raise the temperature to 400 ° c ., and was kept at 400 ° c . for 30 minutes under about 1 atmosphere . fig2 a and b are hrtems of the swnts after heat treatment . a 1 . 6 nm diameter swnt was opened by heating , providing opportunity for filling and functionalization . the material inside the nanotube was amorphous carbon , perhaps due to the short annealing time ( fig2 a ). bismuth was drawn into a swnt by heating in air at 400 ° c . this process resulted in the addition of a second protective layer of carbon around the filled swnt , giving improved stability and providing better isolation of an individual nanotube . the second layer was formed during the heating process , since the starting materials are exclusively single layered ( fig3 b ). about 10 % of the nanotubes were filled with this method , compared to the 1 % that can be achieved for mwnts . most of the metal nanotubes were longer than tens of nanometers . about 20 % of these filled swnts had a protective carbon layer deposited on them ( fig3 b ). the swnt diameter is about 1 – 3 nm and is unlike mwnts which typically have 2 – 50 layers and a diameter of 2 – 50 nm . bismuth was introduced into the swnt using solution phase chemistry , a more general route that allows functionalizing carbon nanotubes with a variety of molecules . swnt soot was stirred in concentrated hcl for 7 . 5 hours at room temperature in order to remove excess metal particles . the solution was centrifuged for 10 minutes and the precipitate was then dried , washed with deionized water , and dried again . after 2 wash cycles , the solution was removed and the sample was dried at 70 ° c . overnight and two wash cycles were repeated . to fill the swnt , the swnt soot sample was stirred in 1m of bi ( no 3 ) 3 in hno 3 solution . the hno 3 was used to open the capped ends of the swnt . after centrifugation , the precipitate was washed , dried and heated in a h 2 flow in an oven where the temperature was raised at 5 ° c . per minute and kept at 350 ° c . for 3 hours with a 15 minute cool down period . the sample was then washed and dried overnight at 60 ° c . fig3 a to 3 d are hrtems of swnts filled by the technique of solution phase chemistry . more than 30 % of the swnts were filled by this method . most of the fillings are single bismuth crystals , as determined by x - ray ( edx ) analysis . the diameter of the crystal is the same as the inner diameter of the swnts . the lengths of filling range from several tens of nanometers to hundreds of nanometers , with many of the tubes nearly filled , which suggests a strong interaction between the inner surface of the nanotube and the metal atoms . the lattice fringes can be seen clearly throughout the tube filling , with smaller diameter nanotubes showing individual atoms arranged in columns of bismuth nanowires . fig3 a shows a single bismuth crystal inside the nanotube . the most commonly observed lattice spacing is d 012 = 0 . 33 nm . the bottom nanotube in fig3 a has the ( 012 ) lattice fringes perpendicular to the tube axis and the spacing can be determined to high accuracy . the spacing is 0 . 328 nm , the same as in the bulk bismuth metal . other lattice spacings were observed that deviate from the lattice spacings of bulk bismuth crystal by about 5 %. one can observe on occasion ( 003 ) lattice fringes with spacings of 0 . 395 nm or ( 101 ) lattice fringes with spacings of 0 . 374 nm . analogous size effects have been observed in the crystalline structure of small diameter mwnts [ kiang , c . - h ., et al ., size effects in carbon nanotubes , phys . rev . lett ., vol . 81 : 1869 – 1872 ( 1998 )]. referring to fig3 b , a nanotube with a 3 nm diameter had crystalline bismuth filling with a structure similar to that of bulk bismuth crystals . as shown in fig3 c , the d spacing of the bismuth crystals in small diameter nanotubes ( d ˜ 1 nm ) differs from that of bulk bismuth crystal . fig3 d shows atoms of bismuth arranged in columns inside swnts . there are two to three columns of bismuth nanowires inside each nanotube , indicating that the nanowire is composed of approximately five atoms in the plane perpendicular to the tube axis . fig4 is an energy of dispersed x - ray ( edx ) spectrum of filled tubes which shows strong peaks arising from the k α , k β , l α , and l β transitions of bismuth . the peak from carbon is from the swnt and the weaker peaks from cu are from the transmission electron microscope specimen support grid . most of the filling of the swnts was crystalline with a very high aspect ratio , unlike the particle - like fillings observed inside mwnts [ tsang , s . c ., et al ., “ a simple chemical method of opening and filling carbon nanotubes ”, nature , vol . 372 : 159 – 162 ( 1994 ), chu , a ., et al ., “ filling of carbon nanotubes with silver , gold , and gold chloride ”, chem . mater ., vol . 8 : 2751 – 2754 ( 1996 )]. this suggests that a strong capillary force , stronger than in mwnts , is responsible for efficient filling of swnts [ ajayan , p . m ., et al ., supra ]. the strong capillary effect in swnts should allow them to host a wide variety of nanoscale materials . the results indicate the tendency for molecules to be drawn into nanotubes in either crystalline or amorphous phases , demonstrating the feasibility of filling swnts using solid or gas phase molecules . the procedures of davis , et al ., “ the immobilisation of proteins in carbon nanotubes ”, inorganica chimica acta , vol . 272 : 261 – 266 ( 1998 ), for filling mwnts with a protein or enzyme , can be followed to fill swnts with metallothionein . a swnt sample can be prepared and opened , according to the procedures described in example 1 to 3 above . 2 mg of freshly opened swnts can be mixed with 0 . 5 mg metallothionein ( mt ) ii ( mw 7 kda ) in 1 ml deionized water . the flask contents are left to stand at room temperature without stirring and a constant stream of nitrogen is maintained over the surface of the suspension / solution in order to aid evaporation . when most of the water has evaporated ( 3 days ) the flask can be placed in a vacuum desiccator over p 2 o 5 for three days before transmission electron microscopy ( tem ) examination . the procedures of example 4 can be followed to open and fill swnts with cytochrome c ( horse heart , mw 12 . 4 kda ) and cytochrome c 3 ( desulfovibrio vulgaris , mw 14 kda ). the procedures of davis , et al ., supra , for filling mwnts with a protein or enzyme , can be followed to fill swnts with β - lactamase i . a swnt sample can be prepared and opened , according to the procedures described in example 1 to 3 above . purified β - lactamase i ( bacillus cereus 569h / 9 mw 29 kda ) is dissolved in 1 ml deionised water ( 3 . 8 m ) and 20 mg freshly oxidised , washed and dried carbon swnts are added . the solution / suspension can be left to stand for 3 h and the water is then removed . the procedures of example 3 can be followed by substituting the following metals for bismuth , mutatis mutandis : ni , pb , pd , and mn . the filled swnts are useful in molecular electronics such as a room - temperature transistor , see tans , s . j ., et al ., “ room - temperature transistor based on a single carbon nanotube ,” nature , vol . 393 : 49 – 52 ( 1998 ). swnts can also by used as scanning probe microscope tips , created with acidic , basic or hydrophobic functionalities , or created with biomolecular probes at the open tip ends ; see wong , s . s ., et al , “ covalently functionalized nanotubes as nanometer - sized probes in chemistry and biology ,” nature , vol . 394 : 52 – 55 ( 1998 ). an open - ended swnt could also be used to carry out molecular surgery on nucleic acids , see yakobson , b ., et al ., “ fullerene nanotubes : c 1 , 000000 and beyond ,” american scientist , vol 85 : 324 – 337 ( 1997 ). the following references are incorporated herein by reference : ajayan , p . m ., et al ., nature , vol . 361 : 333 – 334 ( 1993 ); ajayan , p . m ., et al ., nature , vol . 362 : 522 – 525 ( 1993 ); u . s . pat . no . 5 , 547 , 748 ; dujardin , e ., et al ., science , vol . 265 : 1850 – 1852 ( 1994 ); seraphin . s ., et al ., nature , 362 : 503 ( 1993 ); ajayan , p . m ., et al ., phys . rev . lett ., 72 : 1722 – 1725 ( 1994 ); subramoney , s ., et al ., carbon , 32 : 507 – 513 ( 1994 ); tsang , s . c ., et al ., nature , 372 : 159 – 162 ( 1994 ); chu , a ., et al ., chem . mater , vol . 8 : 2751 – 2754 ( 1996 ); guerret - piecourt , c ., et al ., nature , vol . 372 : 761 – 765 ( 1994 ); wong , s . s ., et al ., nature , vol . 394 : 52 – 55 ( 1998 ); davis , j . j ., et al ., inorganica chimica acta , vol . 272 : 261 – 266 ( 1998 ); bethune , d . s ., et al ., nature , vol . 363 : 605 – 607 ( 1993 ); lijima , s ., et al ., nature , vol . 363 : 603 – 605 ( 1993 ); kiang , c . - h ., et al ., j . phys . chem . solids , vol . 57 : 35 – 39 ( 1995 ); kiang , c . - h ., et al ., j . phys . chem ., vol . 98 : 6612 – 6618 ( 1994 ); kiang , c . - h ., et al ., carbon , vol . 33 : 903 – 914 ( 1995 ); kiang , c . - h ., et al ., chem . phys . lett ., vol . 259 : 41 – 47 ( 1996 ); dillon , a . c ., et al ., nature , vol . 386 : 377 – 379 ( 1997 ); sloan , j ., et al ., chem . commun ., vol . 3 : 347 – 348 ( 1998 ); service , r . f ., science , vol . 281 : 940 – 942 ( 1998 ); dekker , c ., physics today , vol . 52 : 22 – 28 ( 1999 ); ebbeson , t . w ., physics today , vol . 49 : 26 – 32 ( 1996 ); han , s ., et al ., science , vol . 277 : 1287 ( 1997 ); vietze , u ., et al ., phys . rev . lett ., vol . 81 : 4628 – 4631 ( 1998 ); heremans , j ., et al ., phys . rev . b 58 : r10091 ( 1998 ); tans , s . j ., et al ., nature , vol . 393 : 49 – 52 ( 1998 ); yakobson , b ., et al ., american scientist , vol 85 : 324 – 337 ( 1997 ). although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity and understanding , it will be obvious that various modifications and changes which are within the knowledge of those skilled in the art are considered to fall within the scope of the appended claims .