Electroluminescence From Carbon Nanotubes With Quantum Defects

Individual single-walled carbon nanotubes with covalent sidewall defects have emerged as a new class of photon sources whose photoluminescence spectra can be tailored by the carbon nanotube chirality and the attached functional group/molecule. Here we present electroluminescence spectroscopy data from single-tube devices based on (7, 5) carbon nanotubes, functionalized with dichlorobenzene molecules, and wired to graphene electrodes [1]. We observe electrically generated, defect-induced emissions that are controllable by electrostatic gating and strongly red-shifted compared to emissions from pristine nanotubes [2]. The defect-induced emissions are assigned to excitonic and trionic recombination processes by correlating electroluminescence excitation maps with electrical transport and photoluminescence data. At cryogenic conditions, additional, gate-dependent emission lines are assigned to phonon-assisted hot-exciton electroluminescence from quasi-levels. We will report on single-photon defect-state emission observed in second-order correlation function measurements from a Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment, and discuss the dependence of the intensity correlation measurement on electrical power and emission wavelength, and the challenges of performing such measurements [3]. ... mehrIf time allows, we will also report on the integration of electroluminescent semiconducting carbon nanotubes into hybrid 2D-3D photonic circuits [4].
[1] M-K. Li et al., ACS Nano 2022, 16, 11742–11754.
[2] M. Gaulke et al., ACS Nano 2020, 14, 2709–2717.
[3] M-K. Li et al., ACS Nano 2024, 18, 13, 9525–9534.
[4] A. Ovvyan et al., Nat Commun 2023, 14, 3933.