Optical Properties of Aligned Carbon Nanotube Mats for Photonic Applications

Abstract

We studied the optical properties of the aligned carbon nanotube (16,0), (10,0), and (8,4) mats for photonic device applications. We employed ab initio density functional potentials and utilized the linear combination of atomic orbital formalism. We calculated the electronic structure of the carbon nanotube mats and the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric functions as functions of the photon energy. The calculated dielectric functions of the aligned carbon nanotube mats show a strong anisotropy when the electric field of the light is parallel or perpendicular to the tube axes. Especially, there are strong peaks in the imaginary part of the dielectric function near the absorption edges, when the electric field of the light is parallel to the carbon nanotube axes. The unusual optical properties of the semiconducting carbon nanotube mats present an opportunity for applications in electro-optical devices in the infrared energy region.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA530087

Entities

People

  • D. Bagayoko
  • Guang–Lin Zhao
  • Yang Li

Organizations

  • Southern University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption
  • Absorption Spectra
  • Atomic Orbitals
  • Carbon Nanotubes
  • Computational Science
  • Electric Fields
  • Electron Density
  • Electron Energy
  • Electrons
  • Energy Bands
  • Films
  • Fullerenes
  • Materials
  • Optical Properties
  • Photonic Devices
  • Physics
  • Solid State Physics

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Quantum Chemistry
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space