Article abstract


Nature Materials 7, 878 - 883 (2008)
Published online: 19 October 2008 | doi:10.1038/nmat2296

Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials | Nanoscale materials

Electron and phonon renormalization near charged defects in carbon nanotubes

Indhira O. Maciel1,7, Neil Anderson2,7,8, Marcos A. Pimenta1, Achim Hartschuh3, Huihong Qian3, Mauricio Terrones4, Humberto Terrones4, Jessica Campos-Delgado4, Apparao M. Rao5, Lukas Novotny2 & Ado Jorio1,6


Owing to their influence on electrons and phonons, defects can significantly alter electrical conductance, and optical, mechanical and thermal properties of a material. Thus, understanding and control of defects, including dopants in low-dimensional systems, hold great promise for engineered materials and nanoscale devices. Here, we characterize experimentally the effects of a single defect on electrons and phonons in single-wall carbon nanotubes. The effects demonstrated here are unusual in that they are not caused by defect-induced symmetry breaking. Electrons and phonons are strongly coupled in sp2 carbon systems, and a defect causes renormalization of electron and phonon energies. We find that near a negatively charged defect, the electron velocity is increased, which in turn influences lattice vibrations locally. Combining measurements on nanotube ensembles and on single nanotubes, we capture the relation between atomic response and the readily accessible macroscopic behaviour.

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  1. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30123-970, Brazil
  2. Institute of Optics and Department of Physics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
  3. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Department Chemie und Biochemie Physikalische Chemie and CeNS, München, 80539, Germany
  4. Advanced Materials Department, IPICYT, San Luis Potosí, SLP, 78216, Mexico
  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29621, USA
  6. Divisão de Metrologia de Materiais, Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Normalização e Qualidade Industrial (INMETRO), Duque de Caxias, RJ, 25250-020, Brazil
  7. These authors contributed equally to this work
  8. Present address: Bausch & Lomb, 1400 N. Goodman St., Rochester, New York 14609, USA

Correspondence to: Lukas Novotny2 e-mail: novotny@optics.rochester.edu

Correspondence to: Ado Jorio1,6 e-mail: adojorio@fisica.ufmg.br



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