Diffractive responses to optical wave-train excitations in nanotube-doped nematics

Diffractive properties of temporary holographic gratings were studied in cells of the homogeneously aligned nematic E7 doped with a trace of carbon nanotubes. These phase gratings were induced by interference modulation of the pulsed wave-train excitation of two coherent writing beams, in conjunction with an externally applied dc voltage. The effects of the optical excitation on the diffraction efficiencies and the decay time constants were observed to be strongly dependent on the pulse width of the writing beams. PACS 42.40.Lx; 42.70.Df; 42.70.Ln; 81.05.Tp     

Observation of self-diffraction by gratings in nematic liquid crystals doped with carbon nanotubes

Diffraction gratings were studied in cells of the homogeneously aligned liquid-crystal E7 doped with multiwall carbon nanotubes. These phase gratings were induced by interference modulation of two coherent optical beams, in conjunction with an applied dc field that was perpendicular to the unperturbed director axis. Self-diffraction was observed at all angles of incidence of the writing beams, including normal incidence. A superior nonlinear-index coefficient of 5x10(-2)cm(2)/W was obtained after passage of a 44-mW/cm(2) beam through a film with a grating constant of 18 mum under an external voltage of 15 V. The observed phenomenon depends strongly on the applied dc field, and the memory effect in a nematic film depends strongly on the grating constant.     

Carbon Nanoparticles in Nematic Liquid Crystals

Fullerene C60, C7o, single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene sheets are doped to nematic liquid crystal （LC） host in the same percentage. Planar samples of these mixtures are prepared and our measurements constitute an optimization basis for possible applications. Fullerene balls are found to be the best compatible material for optical aims and reorientation of LC molecules, while the carbon nanotubes experience some reorientation possibility in LC media and graphene layers are good barriers to preserve reorientation.     

Optical absorption by atomically doped carbon nanotubes under strong atom–field coupling

We analyze optical absorption by atomically doped carbon nanotubes with a special focus on the frequency range close to the atomic transition frequency. We derive the optical absorption line-shape function and, having analyzed particular achiral nanotubes of different diameters, predict the effect of absorption line splitting due to strong atom–vacuum–field coupling in small-diameter nanotubes.     

Quantum-dot transport in carbon nanotubes

Transport measurements on a bundle of single-walled carbon nanotubes have been made below 4.2 K as a function of side gate and source–drain bias voltage. The transport of an individual nanotube is described by the Coulomb blockade effect. The zero-dimensional quantum states of the nanotube become clear for measurements of large bias voltage. In addition, we present preliminary results of microwave application to the SWNT dot, and the results can be qualitatively explained by classical coupling to the dot.     

Electro-Optical Characteristics of a Twisted Nematic Liquid-Crystal Cell Doped with Carbon Nanotubes in a DC Electric Field

Electro-optical effects of twisted nematic (TN) cells of pristine and carbon-nanotube-doped liquid crystal were investigated. In comparison with the characteristics of an undoped TN cell, both the threshold de voltage and the ioncharge effect are reduced by the addition of either single-walled (SW-) or multi-walled (MW-) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a dopant in the TN cell. Experimental evidence indicates that MWCNTs are a superior additive to SWCNTs.     

Simple and accurate model for voltage-dependent resistance of metallic carbon nanotube interconnects: An ab initio study

In this work, development of a voltage dependent resistance model for metallic carbon nanotubes is aimed. Firstly, the resistance of metallic carbon nanotube interconnects are obtained from ab initio simulations and then the voltage dependence of the resistance is modeled through regression. Self-consistent non-equilibrium Green's function formalism combined with density functional theory is used for calculating the voltage dependent resistance of metallic carbon nanotubes. It is shown that voltage dependent resistances of carbon nanotubes can be accurately modeled as a polynomial function which enables rapid integration of carbon nanotube interconnect models into electronic design automation tools.     

Metastable state of sliding CDW in K0.3MoO3

The narrow band noise and the transient voltage oscillation were investigated in a k_0.3MoO₃ sample, which showed different I–V characteristics in the non-linear conductivity region for dc and pulse methods. For repeated current pulses, after a sufficiently long duration of dc current, the voltage response showed relaxation behavior with a relaxation time of about 30 min at 77 K. Similar relaxation was also observed for the opposite case of a dc current applied after repeated pulses. The slope of frequency of voltage oscillation against CDW current was constant through these relaxation process in both dc and pulse cases. But the peak of narrow band noise is larger and sharper after repeated pulses than in the dc stationary state. This result was understood as an enhancement of the coherent-phase region for voltage oscillation in the case of repeated pulses.     

Diffraction studies of temporary gratings in pulsed-electric-field-biased nematics doped with carbon nanotubes

Diffraction-intensity measurements were carried out for diffraction gratings recorded in planar cells of nematics doped with carbon nanotubes in a pulsed electric field. Diffraction properties were observed to depend strongly on the pulse width of the externally applied field. Holographic gratings could be switched on and off by the application of a pulsed voltage. PACS 42.40.Lx; 42.70.Df; 42.70.Ln; 81.05.Tp     

Orientational holographic gratings observed in nematics aligned by carbon nanotube film

In this paper, we present a novel type of nematic liquid crystal cell with carbon nanotube film deposited by electrophoresis as the alignment layer. Self-diffraction was observed without applying a dc voltage across the cell under low intensity optical irradiation of a few milliwatts at 488 nm. The first-order diffraction efficiency increased and the response time of the grating decreased with the applied dc voltage increasing up to the dynamic scattering threshold voltage at 4 V (the corresponding dc electric field was 0.2 V/μm). A diffraction efficiency of ∼20%, the grating formation time of 0.5 s and an effective refractive index change coefficient of 0.14 cm²/W were obtained at 3.7 V with a writing beam intensity of 33 mW/cm². These observed phenomena were attributed to the photoactive charge layer formed at the interface of the carbon nanotube film and the liquid crystal film. PACS 42.65.Hw; 42.70.Df; 42.70.Nq; 42.40.Eq     

Influence of the electrical field applied during thermal cycling on the conductivity of LLDPE/CNT composites

The effect of the electrical field on the conductivity of linear low-density polyethylene/carbon nanotubes/ (LLDPE/CNT) composites during temperature cycling has been investigated. Under applied voltage a positive resistivity temperature coefficient was observed during heating already at low (2–3 wt%) CNT content, followed by a large negative temperature coefficient during cooling whose value depends on the applied voltage. The resistivity values after thermal cycling were markedly lower, while they slightly increased in the absence of an electrical field. The effects of thermal cycling on structural and physical properties of the composites have been evaluated by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry.     

Orientational Ordering of a Liquid-Crystal Suspension of Carbon Nanotubes in a Magnetic Field

A statistical theory is proposed to describe a suspension of carbon nanotubes in a nematic liquid crystal. The mean-field approach is used, and dispersion attraction, the excluded volume effects, the diamagnetism of liquid crystal molecules, and the strong diamagnetism of nanotubes are taken into account. The influence of the volume fraction of impurity, temperature, and magnetic field on the orientational ordering of a liquid crystal matrix and carbon nanotubes is studied. The concentration and temperature phase transitions in the suspension are investigated for various magnetic fields. The concentration and field shifts of the point of the phase transition between nematic and isotropic or paranematic phases are studied.     

Doped single‐walled carbon nanotubes and low‐mobility graphene: impact of disorder and dopants on electronic magnetotransport

The impact of disorder introduced by intentional and unintentional (environmental) dopants on the charge transport has been investigated in boron‐ and nitrogen‐doped single‐walled carbon nanotubes, and in low‐mobility monolayer graphene. For doped single‐walled nanotubes a theoretically not predicted plateau‐like region and onsets of oscillatory behaviour in the conductance for boron‐ and nitrogen‐doped nanotubes were observed, respectively. The oscillatory behaviour suggests interplay between the dopants and the helical movement of charges along the tube due to the magnetic field. For low‐mobility graphene the simultaneous appearance of the filling‐factor 2 and 3 plateau was observed in the Quantum‐Hall regime. This is attributed to an electron‐spin–isospin interaction mediated through the high disorder. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Thermal and optical study of semiconducting CNTs-doped nematic liquid crystalline material

We report the thermal and spectroscopic analysis of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-doped nematic liquid crystal (NLC) material. The CNTs have been oriented in the p-ethoxybenzylidene p-butylaniline NLC. The thermal study of the CNTs doped nematic mixtures shows a significant decrease in the isotropic to nematic phase transition temperature. However higher doping concentration of CNTs has led to the further increase in transition temperature. The UV-Visible spectroscopy has been attempted on the CNTs/NLC mixtures at room temperature. The investigated NLC present one absorption band corresponding to π–π* electronic transition. A red shift of λ_max with the increasing concentration of CNTs in the mixture has been observed. The band gap of NLC has been found to decrease after the doping of CNTs. The absorbance was measured for the UV light, polarized parallel and perpendicular to the LC director in the planar aligned cell.     

Flow-driven voltage generation in carbon nanotubes

The flow of various liquids and gases over single-walled carbon nanotube bundles induces an electrical signal (voltage/current) in the sample along the direction of the flow. The electrical response generated by the flow of liquids is found to be logarithmic in the flow speed over a wide range. In contrast, voltage generated by the flow of gas is quadratically dependent on the gas flow velocity. It was found that the underlying physics for the generation of electrical signals by liquids and gases are different. For the liquid, the Coulombic interaction between the ions in the liquid and the charge carriers in the nanotube plays a key role while electrical signal generation due to gas flow is due to an interplay of Bernoulli’s principle and Seebeck effect. Unlike the liquid case which is specific to the nanotubes, the gas flow effect can be seen for a variety of solids ranging from single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, graphite and doped semiconductors.     

Properties and bias dependence of metal-insulator-metal point-contact diodes as harmonic mixers in the mid-infrared

Tungsten whisker-nickel point-contact (W-Ni) diodes have been used to investigate fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-order harmonic mixing processes in the frequency range of 30–120 THz. The beat notes obtained by these processes have been measured as a function of the applied bias voltages of the diode. The results were compared with the corresponding derivative evaluated by a polynomial fit of the dc current-voltage (I–V) characteristic of the diode. It was found that the beat signals obtained by the various processes can in most cases be described qualitatively by the dc I–V characteristic of the diode.     

Investigation of superconductivity in the single-walled carbon nanotubes

Superconductivity in the single-walled carbon nanotubes is investigated. First, effect of diameter increasing on the clean systems critical temperature, T_c, is calculated. Then effect of impurity doping on the reduction of critical temperature T_c, of single-walled carbon nanotubes, is discussed. Our calculations illustrate that metallic zigzag single-walled carbon nanotubes have higher T_c than armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes with approximately same diameters and T_c decreases by increasing diameter. This can explain why superconductivity could be found in the small diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes. We found for the impurity doped systems, impurity in the strong scattering regime can decrease T_c significantly while in the weak scattering regime T_c is not affected by impurity doping.     

First-principles study of palladium atom adsorption on the boron- or nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes

We have performed first-principles calculation to investigate the adsorption of a single palladium atom on the surface of the pristine and boron- or nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The results show that for the adsorption of a single palladium atom on the pristine CNT surface, the most stable site is Bridge1 site above the axial carbon–carbon bond. Either boron- or nitrogen-doped CNTs can assist palladium surface adsorption, but the detailed mechanisms are different. The enhanced palladium adsorption on boron-doped CNT is attributed to the palladium d orbital strongly hybridized with both boron p orbital and carbon p orbital. The enhancement in palladium adsorption on nitrogen-doped CNT results from activating the nitrogen-neighboring carbon atoms due to the large electron affinity of nitrogen. Furthermore, the axial bond is preferred over the zigzag bond for a palladium atom adsorbed on the surface of all three types of CNTs. The most energetically favorable site for a palladium atom adsorbed on three types of CNTs is above the axial boron–carbon bond in boron-doped CNT. The enhancement in palladium adsorption is more significant for the boron-doped CNT than it is for nitrogen-doped CNT with a similar configuration. So we conclude that accordingly, the preferred adsorption site is determined by the competition between the electron affinity of doped and adsorbed atoms and preferred degree of the axial bond over the zigzag bond.     

Near-infrared luminescence emitted by an electrically switched liquid crystal cell

Switching of near-infrared emission was observed for liquid crystal (LC) cells filled with a chiral nematic liquid-crystal mixture (mixture of E7 and cholesteryl nonanoate) doped with luminescent neodymium(III) or ytterbium(III) β-diketonate complexes. The operating principle of the LC cell is based on an electrically induced phase transition from a chiral nematic to a nematic phase. The chiral nematic phase scatters the excitation light more strongly, resulting in more efficient light absorption and intenser photoluminescence.     

Orientation in Nematic Liquid Crystals Doped with Orange Dyes and Effect of Carbon Nanoparticles

研究了掺杂两种分散染料橙的向列型液晶E7的性质以及碳纳米粒子(单壁碳纳米管或富勒烯C₆₀)的影响. 两种分散染料橙11和13具有较高的溶解度和有序参数,被作为掺杂剂同时使用. 与掺杂单染料相比,同时加入两种染料橙使液晶的有序参数明显提高. 与纯液晶相比,掺杂可引起向列相向各向同性相转变温度的升高.