Enhanced Photocurrent Efficiency of a Carbon Nanotube Embedded in a Photonic Structure

Technical Report · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1324637· OSTI ID:1324637

Wong, Bryan M. ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Materials Science

One of the most rapidly-growing areas in nanoscience is the ability to artificially manipulate optical and electrical properties at the nanoscale. In particular, nanomaterials such as single-wall carbon nanotubes offer enhanced methods for converting infrared light to electrical energy due to their unique one-dimensional electronic properties. However, in order for this energy conversion to occur, a realistic nanotube device would require high-intensity light to be confined on a nanometer scale. This arises from the fact that the diameter of a single nanotube is on the order of a nanometer, and infrared light from an external source must be tightly focused on the narrow nanotube for efficient energy conversion. To address this problem, I calculate the theoretical photocurrent of a nanotube p-n junction illuminated by a highly-efficient photonic structure. These results demonstrate the utility of using a photonic structure to couple large-scale infrared sources with carbon nanotubes while still retaining all the unique optoelectronic properties found at the nanoscale.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1324637
• Report Number(s): SAND2008--5224; 278437
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY