Preliminary Characterization of Plasmons in Low Temperature Carbon Nanotubes
Abstract
The overarching long term objective of this research is to demonstrate control of propagating plasmons in single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that have applications to quantum information technologies. Specifically, we will investigate the fundamental limits of plasmon propagation in 1D SWCNTs, which are believed to be governed by Luttinger liquid physics. Luttinger liquid plasmons (LLPs) are fundamental excitations of one-dimensional conductors and have only recently been observed in metallic SWCNTs. During our previous pilot program we successfully demonstrated growth of high quality SWCNTs on top of ultra-flat hexagon boron nitride (hBN) substrates, and successfully demonstrated propagation of IR LLPs using scanning near field optical microscopy(SNOM), being the first group to confirm the reports1,2, that motivated our investigation. Furthermore, in late 2018, LeRoy and Schaibley were awarded a NSF MRI award to purchase a $1.4M cryogenic SNOM instrument, allowing for us to measure the previously unexplored low temperature propagation of plasmons. Due to this new measurement capability, we requested to funding to perform preliminary low temperature measurements on SWCNTs in the cryogenic SNOM. Our hypothesis is that the propagation length of LLPs will be greatly enhanced at low temperatures, and we will measure this propagation length using a scattering SNOM technique. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic the installation of the cryoneaSNOM was delayed and had to be installed completely remotely due to travel restrictions. Our primary results of this add on award are the successful remote installation of the cryo-neaSNOM at the University of Arizona (UA), demonstration.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 27, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1136994
Entities
People
- John R. Schaibley
Organizations
- University of Arizona