Nonlinear optical absorption and reflection of single wall carbon nanotube thin films by ZZ-scan technique

"Both the nonlinear optical transmission and reflection characteristics of HiPco-based single wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) thin films are studied by using the ZZ-scan method with femtosecond laser pulses at a wavelength of 1.46μm1.46μm. The nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index are obtained as (5.4±2.0)×10−7cm/W(5.4±2.0)×10−7cm∕W and (1.1±0.5)×10−11cm2/W(1.1±0.5)×10−11cm2∕W, respectively, which are considerably greater than those of other optical materials. This large optical nonlinearity is ascribed to (a) homogeneously deposited thin nanotube film on optically transparent barium fluoride, (b) just-resonant excitation condition, and (c) intrinsic saturable absorption feature of SWNTs.

Novel hetero-layered materials with tunable direct band gaps by sandwiching different metal disulfides and diselenides

"Although bulk hexagonal phases of layered semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (STMD) such as MoS2, WS2, WSe2 and MoSe2 exhibit indirect band gaps, a mono-layer of STMD possesses a direct band gap which could be used in the construction of novel optoelectronic devices, catalysts, sensors and valleytronic components. Unfortunately, the direct band gap only occurs for mono-layered STMD. We have found, using first principles calculations, that by alternating individual layers of different STMD (MoS2, WS2, WSe2 and MoSe2) with particular stackings, it is possible to generate direct band gap bi-layers ranging from 0.79 eV to 1.157 eV. Interestingly, in this direct band gap, electrons and holes are physically separated and localized in different layers. We foresee that the alternation of different STMD would result in the fabrication of materials with unprecedented optical and physico-chemical properties that would need further experimental and theoretical investigations.

Enhanced thermal conductivity of carbon fiber/phenolic resin composites by the introduction of carbon nanotubes

"The authors report a significant enhancement in the thermal conductivity of a conventional carbon fiber/phenolic resin composite system when adding highly crystalline multiwalled carbon nanotubes. They demonstrate that 7wt%7wt% of carbon nanotubes dispersed homogeneously in a phenolic resin acted as an effective thermal bridge between adjacent carbon fibers and resulted in an enhancement of the thermal conductivity (e.g., from 250to393W∕mK250to393W∕mK). These results indicate that highly crystalline carbon nanotubes can be used as a multifunctional filler to enhance simultaneously the mechanical and thermal properties of the carbon fiber/phenolic resin composites.

An anticorrosive magnesium/carbon nanotube composite

"Here, we report a drastically improved anticorrosive characteristic of magnesium alloy composites with the introduction of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Highly depressed corrosion of nanotube-filled magnesium composite in salt water is due to the formation of stable oxide films along the grain boundaries of magnesium. Our results indicate that carbon nanotube acted as effective multifunctional filler to improve both mechanical and anticorrosive performances of magnesium alloy.

Design of graphene electronic devices using nanoribbons of different widths

"We present a simple design of a field effect transistor based on graphene nanoribbons, taking advantage of the metallic and semiconductor nature of nanoribbons with different widths. Such device could be constructed by using lithography techniques. The conductance of the proposed device is obtained by using the Kubo formula, assuming a strong damping due to the substrate and imperfections of the lattice. By removing the control electrodes, the design could also be used as an electrical resistance.

Controlled growth of one-dimensional clusters of molybdenum atoms using double-walled carbon nanotube templating

"We report the controlled growth of one-dimensional clusters of molybdenum atoms inside the inner cores of double-walled carbon nanotubes. A combined characterization including high resolution transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption measurement at 77 K, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis reveals that the growth of one-dimensional Mo clusters can be controlled by varying the reaction conditions. The products have specific surface areas of 360–480 m2 g−1360–480 m2 g−1, and their characteristic properties are attributed to the presence of Mo cluster, which affect the electronic structure and can be exploited for the development of nanotube electronic devices.

Theoretical characterization of several models of nanoporous carbon

"Elastic, electronic and vibrational properties of seven models of nanoporous carbon are reported. The studied structures are periodic graphitic arrangements with heptagonal and octagonal rings of carbon, known as Schwarzites. The calculations were performed within a non-orthogonal tight binding framework which has been shown to be reliable for diamond, graphene layers, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. In contrast with previous studies, each structure was properly relaxed, so that differences between each model must be assigned to intrinsic properties rather than to differences in their construction. Thermodynamic properties were calculated from the vibrational density of states.

Observation of magnetic edge state in graphene nanoribbons

"The electronic structure and spin magnetism for few-layer-graphene nanoribbons synthesized by chemical vapor deposition have been investigated using near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and electron-spin resonance (ESR). For the pristine sample, a prepeak was observed below the pi* peak close to the Fermi level in NEXAFS, indicating the presence of additional electronic states close to the Fermi level. The intensity of this prepeak decreased with increasing annealing temperature and disappeared after annealing above 1500 degrees C. The ESR spectra, which proved the presence of localized spins, tracked the annealing-temperature-dependent behavior of the prepeak with fidelity. The NEXAFS and ESR results jointly confirm the existence of a magnetic edge state that originates from open nanographene edges. The disappearance of the edge state after annealing at higher temperatures is explained by the decrease in the population of open edges owing to loop formation of adjacent graphene edges.

Identification of individual and few layers of WS2 using Raman Spectroscopy

"The Raman scattering of single-and few-layered WS2 is studied as a function of the number of S-W-S layers and the excitation wavelength in the visible range (488, 514 and 647 nm). For the three excitation wavelengths used in this study, the frequency of the A(1g)(C) phonon mode monotonically decreases with the number of layers. For single-layer WS2, the 514.5 nm laser excitation generates a second-order Raman resonance involving the longitudinal acoustic mode (LA(M)). This resonance results from a coupling between the electronic band structure and lattice vibrations. First-principles calculations were used to determine the electronic and phonon band structures of single-layer and bulk WS2. The reduced intensity of the 2LA mode was then computed, as a function of the laser wavelength, from the fourth-order Fermi golden rule. Our observations establish an unambiguous and nondestructive Raman fingerprint for identifying single-and few-layered WS2 films.