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Charge-compensated, semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube thin film as an electrically configurable optical medium

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 459–465 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

A two-terminal semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (SC-SWNT) film in contact with an ionic liquid allows the realization of an extremely high density of holes, inducing a strong position-dependent electromodulation of the interband and excitonic transitions as a result of the position-dependent shift of the SWNT Fermi level. Electrical control of the optical transmission suggests applications of the SC-SWNT thin films as electrically configurable optical media, while the wide spectral range of the electro-optical modulation, which extends from the far-infrared to the visible, provides a viable approach to large-area electrochromic smart windows.

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Figure 1: Nonlinear electrical and electro-optical behaviour of a SC-SWNT film coated with ionic liquid.
Figure 2: Spatial distribution of the electro-optical effect in the SC-SWNT thin-film channel in ionic liquid.
Figure 3: Model of observed nonlinear electrical and electro-optical effects in SWNT thin films in ionic liquid.
Figure 4: Spectral range of electro-optical effects in SWNT thin films in ionic liquid.
Figure 5: Electro-optical configuration and functionalities based on the SWNT thin-film channel in an ionic liquid.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based on research sponsored by the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) (agreement no. H94003-10-2-1003). The US Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes, notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University of California – Riverside, Riverside, 92521, California, USA

    Feihu Wang, Mikhail E. Itkis, Elena Bekyarova & Robert C. Haddon

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California – Riverside, Riverside, 92521, California, USA

    Feihu Wang & Robert C. Haddon

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of California – Riverside, Riverside, 92521, California, USA

    Mikhail E. Itkis, Elena Bekyarova & Robert C. Haddon

  4. Department of Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    Robert C. Haddon

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  1. Feihu Wang
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  3. Elena Bekyarova
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  4. Robert C. Haddon
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Contributions

F.W., M.E.I. and R.C.H. contributed to the original idea. M.E.I. and R.C.H. supervised the project. F.W. and M.E.I. designed and set up the experiment. F.W. performed the experiment. F.W., M.E.I., E.B. and R.C.H. contributed to the data analysis, interpretation of the results and preparation of the manuscript. M.E.I. and R.C.H. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Robert C. Haddon.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Wang, F., Itkis, M., Bekyarova, E. et al. Charge-compensated, semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube thin film as an electrically configurable optical medium. Nature Photon 7, 459–465 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.66

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