Subdiffraction far-field imaging of luminescent single-walled carbon nanotubes

Laurent Cognet; Dmitri A Tsyboulski; R Bruce Weisman

doi:10.1021/nl0725300

Subdiffraction far-field imaging of luminescent single-walled carbon nanotubes

Nano Lett. 2008 Feb;8(2):749-53. doi: 10.1021/nl0725300. Epub 2008 Jan 31.

Authors

Laurent Cognet¹, Dmitri A Tsyboulski, R Bruce Weisman

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry, Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, and Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA. lcognet@u-bordeaux1.fr

PMID: 18232720
DOI: 10.1021/nl0725300

Abstract

Far-field near-infrared fluorescence microscopy of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been hampered by the diffraction limit to resolution. A new analysis method is presented that allows subwavelength (<lambda/10) mapping of single-molecule chemical reaction sites on semiconducting SWNTs, enabling precise localization of excitonic luminescence regions along the nanotube axis through a nonperturbing, far-field optical measurement. This method is applied to reveal the subdiffraction lengths, curvatures, and defects of luminescent SWNTs in unprecedented detail.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Luminescent Measurements / methods*
Materials Testing / methods*
Nanostructures / chemistry*
Nanostructures / ultrastructure*
Nanotechnology / methods*
Particle Size
Refractometry / methods*