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Register a new userGiant modulation of the electronic band gap of carbon nanotubes by dielectric screening
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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a promising material for high-performance electronics beyond silicon. But unlike silicon, the nature of the transport band gap in CNTs is not fully understood. The transport gap in CNTs is predicted to be strongly driven by electron-electron (e-e) interactions and correlations, even at room temperature. Here, we use dielectric liquids to screen e-e interactions in individual suspended ultra-clean CNTs. Using multiple techniques, the transport gap is measured as dielectric screening is increased. Changing the dielectric environment from air to isopropanol, we observe a 25% reduction in the transport gap of semiconducting CNTs, and a 32% reduction in the band gap of narrow-gap CNTs. Additional measurements are reported in dielectric oils. Our results elucidate the nature of the transport gap in CNTs, and show that dielectric environment offers a mechanism for significant control over the transport band gap.
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Electronic compressibility, the second derivative of ground state energy with respect to total electron number, is a measurable quantity that reveals the interaction strength of a system and can be used to characterize the orderly crystalline lattice of electrons known as the Wigner crystal. Here, we measure the electronic compressibility of individual suspended ultraclean carbon nanotubes in the low-density Wigner crystal regime. Using low-temperature quantum transport measurements, we determine the compressibility as a function of carrier number in nanotubes with varying band gaps. We observe two qualitatively different trends in compressibility versus carrier number, both of which can be explained using a theoretical model of a Wigner crystal that accounts for both the band gap and the confining potential experienced by charge carriers. We extract the interaction strength as a function of carrier number for individual nanotubes and show that the compressibility can be used to distinguish between strongly and weakly interacting regimes.
We have studied the discrete electronic spectrum of closed metallic nanotube quantum dots. At low temperatures, the stability diagrams show a very regular four-fold pattern that allows for the determination of the electron addition and excitation energies. The measured nanotube spectra are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions based on the nanotube band structure. Our results permit the complete identification of the electron quantum states in nanotube quantum dots.
Allotropes of carbon, including one-dimensional carbon nanotubes and two-dimensional graphene sheets, continue to draw attention as promising platforms for probing the physics of electrons in lower dimensions. Recent research has shown that the electronic properties of graphene multilayers are exquisitely sensitive to the relative orientation between sheets, and in the bilayer case exhibit strong electronic correlations when close to a magic twist angle. Here, we investigate the electronic properties of a carbon nanotube deposited on a graphene sheet by deriving a low-energy theory that accounts both for rotations and rigid displacements of the nanotube with respect to the underlying graphene layer. We show that this heterostructure is described by a translationally invariant, a periodic or a quasi-periodic Hamiltonian, depending on the orientation and the chirality of the nanotube. Furthermore, we find that, even for a vanishing twist angle, rigid displacements of a nanotube with respect to a graphene substrate can alter its electronic structure qualitatively. Our results identify a promising new direction for strong correlation physics in low dimensions.
Much understanding exists regarding chirality-dependent properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on a single-tube level. However, macroscopic manifestations of chirality dependence have been limited, especially in electronic transport, despite the fact that such distinct behaviors are needed for any applications of SWCNT-based devices. In addition, developing reliable transport theory is challenging since a description of localization phenomena in an assembly of nanoobjects requires precise knowledge of disorder on multiple spatial scales, particularly if the ensemble is heterogeneous. Here, we report the observation of pronounced chirality-dependent electronic localization in temperature and magnetic field dependent conductivity measurements on single-chirality SWCNT films. The samples included semiconducting (6,5) and (10,3) films, chiral metallic (7,4) and (8,5) films, and armchair (6,6) films. Experimental data and theoretical calculations revealed variable-range-hopping dominated transport in all samples except the armchair SWCNT film. We obtained localization lengths that fall into three distinct categories depending on their band gaps. The clear deviation of the armchair films from the other films suggests their robustness toward defects and possible additional transport mechanisms. Our detailed analyses on electronic transport properties of single-chirality SWCNT films provide significant new insight into electronic transport in ensembles of nanoobjects, offering foundations for designing and deploying macroscopic SWCNT solid-state devices.
The electronic Raman scattering (ERS) features of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can reveal a wealth of information about their electronic structures, but have previously been thought to appear exclusively in metallic (M-) but not in semiconducting (S-) SWNTs. We report the experimental observation of the ERS features with an accuracy of 1 meV in suspended S-SWNTs, the processes of which are accomplished via the available high-energy electron-hole pairs. The ERS features can facilitate further systematic studies on the properties of SWNT, both metallic and semiconducting, with defined chirality.
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