Photoluminescence of single-walled carbon nanotubes: the role of Stokes shift and impurity levels

Phys Rev Lett. 2013 Sep 27;111(13):137401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.137401. Epub 2013 Sep 25.

Abstract

Recent experiments have indicated that dopants and defects can trigger new redshifted photoluminescence (PL) peaks below the E11 peak in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). To understand the origin of the new PL peaks, we study theoretically the excited-state properties of SWCNTs with some typical dopants and defects by ab initio many-body perturbation theory. Our calculations demonstrate that the Stokes shift in doped centers can be as large as 170 meV, which is much larger than that of intact SWCNTs and must be taken into account. We find dipole-allowed transitions from localized midgap and shallow impurity levels, which can give rise to pronounced PL peaks. Dark excitons, on the other hand, seem to have oscillator strengths that are too small to account for the new PL peaks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Absorption
  • Hydrogen / chemistry
  • Luminescent Measurements / methods*
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry*
  • Oxygen / chemistry
  • Photochemical Processes

Substances

  • Nanotubes, Carbon
  • Hydrogen
  • Oxygen