Formation of organic color centers in air-suspended carbon nanotubes using vapor-phase reaction

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 2814
• Main Authors: Kozawa, Daichi, Wu, Xiaojian, Ishii, Akihiro, Fortner, Jacob, Otsuka, Keigo, Xiang, Rong, Inoue, Taiki, Maruyama, Shigeo, Wang, YuHuang, Kato, Yuichiro K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20.05.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/357/73; 639/624/399/73; 639/925/357/73; Air temperature; Carbon; Chemical reactions; Color; Color centers; Diameters; Emissions; Emitters; Excitons; Humanities and Social Sciences; Light sources; multidisciplinary; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Photochemical reactions; Photochemicals; Photoluminescence; Photons; Room temperature; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Single wall carbon nanotubes; Spectroscopy; Telecommunications; Vapors
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30508-z

Organic color centers in single-walled carbon nanotubes have demonstrated exceptional ability to generate single photons at room temperature in the telecom range. Combining the color centers with pristine air-suspended nanotubes would be desirable for improved performance, but all current synthetic methods occur in solution which makes them incompatible. Here we demonstrate the formation of color centers in air-suspended nanotubes using a vapor-phase reaction. Functionalization is directly verified by photoluminescence spectroscopy, with unambiguous statistics from more than a few thousand individual nanotubes. The color centers show strong diameter-dependent emission, which can be explained with a model for chemical reactivity considering strain along the tube curvature. We also estimate the defect density by comparing the experiments with simulations based on a one-dimensional exciton diffusion equation. Our results highlight the influence of the nanotube structure on vapor-phase reactivity and emission properties, providing guidelines for the development of high-performance near-infrared quantum light sources. Organic color centers in single-walled carbon nanotubes can act as single-photon sources in the telecom range. Here the authors report the functionalization of air-suspended nanotubes through a vapor-phase photochemical reaction, demonstrating a further tailoring of quantum emitter materials.