Article Title

Tailoring the diameter of single-walled carbon nanotubes for optical applications

Authors

Ying Tian, NanoMaterials Group, Department of Applied Physics and Center for New Materials, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland
Marina Y. Timmermans, NanoMaterials Group, Department of Applied Physics and Center for New Materials, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland
Samuli Kivist, Optoelectronics Research Centre, Tampere University of Technology, P. O. Box 692, Tampere, 33101, Finland
Albert G. Nasibulin, NanoMaterials Group, Department of Applied Physics and Center for New Materials, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland
Zhen Zhu, NanoMaterials Group, Department of Applied Physics and Center for New Materials, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland
Hua Jiang, NanoMaterials Group, Department of Applied Physics and Center for New Materials, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland
Oleg G. Okhotnikov, Optoelectronics Research Centre, Tampere University of Technology, P. O. Box 692, Tampere, 33101, Finland
Esko I. Kauppinen, NanoMaterials Group, Department of Applied Physics and Center for New Materials, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland

Keywords

Single-walled carbon nanotube, diameter-controlled synthesis, optical absorption spectroscopy, saturable absorption, mode-locked laser

Abstract

ABSTRACT Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with specific diameters are required for various applications particularly in electronics and photonics, since the diameter is an essential characteristic determining their electronic and optical properties. In this work, the selective growth of SWCNTs with a certain mean diameter is achieved by the addition of appropriate amounts of CO2 mixed with the carbon source (CO) into the aerosol (floating catalyst) chemical vapor deposition reactor. The noticeable shift of the peaks in the absorption spectra reveals that the mean diameters of the as-deposited SWCNTs are efficiently altered from 1.2 to 1.9 nm with increasing CO2 concentration. It is believed that CO2 acts as an etching agent and can selectively etch small diameter tubes due to their highly curved carbon surfaces. Polymer-free as-deposited SWCNT films with the desired diameters are used as saturable absorbers after stamping onto a highly reflecting Ag-mirror using a simple dry-transfer technique. Sub-picosecond mode-locked fiber laser operations at ~1.56 μm and ~2 μm are demonstrated, showing improvements in the performance after the optimization of the SWCNT properties.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-011-0137-6

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Ying Tian,Marina Y. Timmermans,Samuli Kivistö,Albert G. Nasibulin,Zhen Zhu,Hua Jiang,Oleg G. Okhotnikov,Esko I. Kauppinen, Tailoring the diameter of single-walled carbon nanotubes for optical applications. NanoRes.2011, 4(8): 807–815