Four-point resistance of individual single-wall carbon nanotubes

We have studied the resistance of single-wall carbon nanotubes measured in a four-point configuration with noninvasive voltage electrodes. The voltage drop is detected using multiwalled carbon nanotubes while the current is injected through nanofabricated Au electrodes. The resistance at room temperature is shown to be linear with the length as expected for a classical resistor. This changes at cryogenic temperature; the four-point resistance then depends on the resistance at the Au-tube interfaces and can even become negative due to quantum-interference effects.     

Selective growth of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Growth of individual, vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (VACNT) on patterned Si wafers using dc plasma-enhanced CVD is described. The selective growth of individual VACNT within larger holes etched in Si is demonstrated for the first time.     

Tunneling-current-induced light emission from individual carbon nanotubes

Tunneling electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope were used to excite light emission from individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes adsorbed on a highly ordered pyrolytic graphite surface. In the integral photon-intensity map, spatially uniform emission in the visible region was observed along the identical multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The emission spectra for the individual nanotubes showed unique profiles which differed with each nanotube, and were classified into two types. Our results indicate that the light emission is due to not the localized electronic states at the tube ends or defects but radiative transitions of electrons between the one-dimensional van Hove singularities, indicating that the two types of spectra are attributed to metallic and semiconducting nanotubes.     

Modulation of thermoelectric power of individual carbon nanotubes

Thermoelectric power (TEP) of individual single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been measured at mesoscopic scales using a microfabricated heater and thermometers. Gate electric field dependent TEP modulation has been observed. The measured TEP of SWNTs is well correlated to the electrical conductance across the SWNT according to the Mott formula. Strong modulations of TEP were observed in the single-electron conduction limit. In addition, semiconducting SWNTs exhibit large values of TEP due to the Schottky barriers at SWNT-metal junctions.     

Multiphonon Raman scattering from individual single-walled carbon nanotubes

Combinations of up to 6 zone-edge and zone-center optical phonons are observed in the Raman spectra of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). These multiphonon Raman modes exhibit distinct signatures of the one-dimensional nature of SWNTs and provide information on the phonon structure, exciton-phonon coupling, and excitonic transitions in nanotubes.     

Nanomechanics of individual carbon nanotubes from pyrolytically grown arrays

The bending modulus of individual carbon nanotubes from aligned arrays grown by pyrolysis was measured by in situ electromechanical resonance in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The bending modulus of nanotubes with point defects was approximately 30 GPa and that of nanotubes with volume defect was 2-3 GPa. The time-decay constant of nanotube resonance in a vacuum of 10(-4) Torr was approximately 85 micros. A femtogram nanobalance was demonstrated based on nanotube resonance; it has the potential for measuring the mass of chain-structured large molecules. The in situ TEM provides a powerful approach towards nanomechanics of fiberlike nanomaterials with well-characterized defect structures.     

Torsional response and stiffening of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes

We report on the characterization of torsional oscillators which use multiwalled carbon nanotubes as the spring elements. Through atomic-force-microscope force-distance measurements we are able to apply torsional strains to the nanotubes and measure their torsional spring constants, and estimate their effective shear moduli. The data show that the nanotubes are stiffened by repeated flexing. We speculate that changes in the intershell mechanical coupling are responsible for the stiffening.     

Sample-specific and ensemble-averaged magnetoconductance of individual single-wall carbon nanotubes

We discuss magnetotransport measurements on individual single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with low contact resistance, performed as a function of temperature and gate voltage. We find that the application of a magnetic field perpendicular to the tube axis results in a large magnetoconductance of the order of e2/h at low temperature. We demonstrate that this magnetoconductance consists of a sample-specific and of an ensemble-averaged contribution, both of which decrease with increasing temperature. The observed behavior resembles very closely the behavior of more conventional multichannel mesoscopic wires, exhibiting universal conductance fluctuations and weak localization. A theoretical analysis of our experiments will enable us to reach a deeper understanding of phase-coherent one-dimensional electronic motion in SWNTs.     

Mesoscopic thermal and thermoelectric measurements of individual carbon nanotubes

We discuss the mesoscopic experimental measurements of electron energy dissipation, phonon thermal transport, and thermoelectric phenomena in individual carbon nanotubes. The temperature distributions in electrically heated individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes have been measured with a scanning thermal microscope. The temperature profiles along the tube axis in nanotubes indicate the bulk dissipation of electronic energy to phonons. In addition, thermal conductivity of an individual multiwalled nanotube has been measured using a microfabricated suspended device. The observed thermal conductivity is two orders of magnitude higher than the estimation from previous experiments that used macroscopic mat samples. Finally, we present thermoelectric power (TEP) of individual single walled carbon nanotubes using a novel mesoscopic device. A strong modulation of TEP as a function of the gate electrode was observed.     

Exponential decay lifetimes of excitons in individual single-walled carbon nanotubes

The dynamics of excitons in individual semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes was studied using time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The PL decay from tubes of the same (n,m) type was found to be monoexponential, however, with lifetimes varying between less than 20 and 200 ps from tube to tube. Competition of nonradiative decay of excitons is facilitated by a thermally activated process, most likely a transition to a low-lying optically inactive trap state that is promoted by a low-frequency phonon mode.     

Vanishing of the Breit-Wigner-Fano component in individual single-wall carbon nanotubes

In order to decide definitely on the dependence of the intensity of the Breit-Wigner-Fano (BWF) component with the size of the bundle, we have measured the radial breathing modes and tangential modes (TMs) of well defined metallic individual single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and individual SWCNT bundles. In this aim, a complete procedure including the preparation of the substrates, the sample preparation, atomic-force-microscopy imaging and Raman spectroscopy has been developed. From this procedure, we show unambiguously that the BWF component vanishes in isolated metallic SWCNTs. In other words, the observation of a BWF component in the TM bunch is an intrinsic feature of the metallic SWCNT bundle.     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering from the individual metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes

A new experimental technique has been presented to investigate the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) on “individual and untouched” single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) deposited onto gold or silver film-covered substrate through a direct CVD method. It was found that the radial breathing mode for SERS shows a narrower linewidth than the normal Raman spectroscopy (NRS). Relative to NRS, the SERS spectra also revealed a preferable contribution to some metallic component of the G line. However no obvious difference for D and G′ between SERS and NRS has been revealed, which is different from the previous results on bulk SWNT samples.     

Interactions between individual carbon nanotubes studied by Rayleigh scattering spectroscopy

The electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are altered by intertube coupling whenever bundles are formed. These effects are examined experimentally by applying Rayleigh scattering spectroscopy to probe the optical transitions of given individual SWNTs in their isolated and bundled forms. The transition energies of SWNTs are observed to undergo redshifts of tens of meVs upon bundling with other SWNTs. These intertube coupling effects can be understood as arising from the mutual dielectric screening of SWNTs in a bundle.     

Controlling growth and Raman spectra of individual suspended single-walled carbon nanotubes

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were prepared with ethanol chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on SiO₂ flat and pillar-patterned Si substrates. The effect of CVD temperatures from 600 to 800 °C on SWNTs yields was investigated. By virtue of its unperturbed environment, an individual suspended SWNT grown between two different SiO₂ pillars provides a possibility to study the phonon band structure of SWNT itself at a single-nanotube level. Raman spectra of individual SWNTs grown between pillars were investigated systematically.     

Nonlinear optical and optical limiting properties of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes

A large number of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were obtained by dilution of nanotube dispersions in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). Up to 70% individual SWNTs are contained in the NMP dispersions with concentrations of less than 4.0×10^-3 mg/mL. The nonlinear optical and optical limiting properties of SWNT dispersions were studied by using the Z-scan technique at 532 nm. As the concentration of SWNTs is increased, the nonlinear extinction (NLE) and optical limiting effects improve significantly, while the limiting thresholds decrease gradually. The individual SWNTs show similar NLE effect to zinc phthalocyanine nanoparticles, while also exhibiting larger NLE coefficients than Mo₆S_4.5I_4.5 nanowires.     

Field emission of individual carbon nanotubes in the scanning electron microscope

The field emission of individual multiwall carbon nanotubes grown by chemical vapor deposition was measured in a scanning electron microscope. By using a sharp anode, we were able to select one nanotube for measurements in carefully controlled conditions. Single nanotubes follow the Fowler-Nordheim law, and the dependence of the field enhancement with interelectrode distance and nanotube radius is in good agreement with the recent model of Edgcombe and Valdré. Our results suggest that only nanotubes with the highest field enhancement factors, i.e., at least 8x higher than those of the average nanotube population, contribute to the emitted current in usual large area measurements.     

Dynamics of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes in water by real-time visualization

Individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in aqueous suspension are visualized directly by fluorescence video microscopy. The fluorescent tagging is simple, biocompatible, and does not modify the SWNTs. The dynamics of individual SWNTs in water are observed and quantified for the first time. We measure the confined rotational diffusion coefficient and find it in reasonable agreement with predictions based on confined diffusion of dilute Brownian rods. We determine the critical concentration at which SWNTs in suspensions start interacting. By analyzing the fluctuating shape of SWNTs in the 3 to 5 microm range, we determine that their persistence length ranges between 32 and 174 microm, in agreement with theoretical estimates; thus, commonly available SWNTs in liquids can be considered as rigid Brownian rods in the absence of imposed external fields or self-attractive forces.     

Electrostatics of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes investigated by electrostatic force microscopy

We report an experimental study of static charge distribution in individual single-walled carbon nanotubes grown on a Si+115 nm SiO2 substrate. From these experiments, we conclude that charges are distributed uniformly along the nanotubes. We demonstrate that electrostatic force microscopy can accurately measure the amount of charges per unit length. We found that this amount is diameter dependent and in the range of 1 electron per nanometer for a 2.5 nm nanotube at a potential of -3.5 V.     

Probing induced defects in individual carbon nanotubes using electrostatic force microscopy

Structural defects greatly affect the electronic properties of single wall carbon nanotubes (CNT’s), for instance by increasing the sensitivity to their environment; an effect which can be utilized for better performance of CNT based chemical sensors. Here we show that electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) can be used as a non-invasive technique for probing defects in individual CNT’s supported on insulating substrates. The technique is demonstrated by monitoring the change in EFM signal upon intentionally inducing defect by an oxygen plasma etch, and is applied to assess the quality of as-grown CNT samples and to study the effect of exposing CNT’s to the low energy electron irradiation of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). PACS 68.37.-d; 68.37.Ps; 61.46.Fg; 68.35.Dv     

Calculation of the sizes of individual few-walled carbon nanotubes and their bundles

The temperature dependences of the number of nucleating single-walled and few-walled nanotubes and their diameter have been determined over a wide range of model parameters in the framework of the problem regarding the nucleation of carbon nanotubes from catalytic particles supersaturated with carbon. It has been demonstrated that, initially, individual nanotubes nucleate and grow and, then, they can be joined together into bundles. The mechanism of the formation of bundles in the proposed model follows from the quantum-chemical analysis of the steady-state growth of nanotubes at the level of release of individual carbon atoms. During the growth, the axis of the nanotube rotates about the normal to the surface of the catalytic particle. This leads to the cross-linking of nanotubes into bundles. The characteristic diagram of the regions of the existence of individual single-walled, few-walled, and multiwalled nanotubes and their bundles has been constructed as a function of the temperature and the size of catalytic particles.