Structure-Assigned Optical Spectra of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 298; no. 5602; pp. 2361 - 2366
• Main Authors: Bachilo, Sergei M., Strano, Michael S., Kittrell, Carter, Hauge, Robert H., Smalley, Richard E., Weisman, R. Bruce
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 20.12.2002; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electronic structure; Emission spectra; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Fluorescence; Graphene; Innovations; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Optical transition; Physics; Semiconductors; Semiconductors (Materials); Visible spectrum; Wave excitation; Wavelengths; United States; Raman spectra; Energy-level transitions; Excitons; Size effect; Fluorescence; Carbon nanotubes; Property structure relationship; Absorption spectra; Electronic density of states; Experimental study; Single walled nanotube
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1078727

Spectrofluorimetric measurements on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) isolated in aqueous surfactant suspensions have revealed distinct electronic absorption and emission transitions for more than 30 different semiconducting nanotube species. By combining these fluorimetric results with resonance Raman data, each optical transition has been mapped to a specific (n,m) nanotube structure. Optical spectroscopy can thereby be used to rapidly determine the detailed composition of bulk SWNT samples, providing distributions in both tube diameter and chiral angle. The measured transition frequencies differ substantially from simple theoretical predictions. These deviations may reflect combinations of trigonal warping and excitonic effects.