No abstract

We demonstrate here that large area periodic arrays of well-aligned carbon nanotubes can be fabricated inexpensively on Ni dots made by the process of self-assembly nanosphere lithography. These periodic arrays appear colorful due to their efficient reflection and diffraction of visible light. In addition, due to their honeycomb lattice structure, these arrays can act as photonic band gap crystals in the visible frequency range. In this report, we present the initial exploration of the optical properties of such arrays. Here we show that these potential 2D photonic band gap crystal arrays might find very important applications in optoelectronics.

We present optical measurements of random arrays of aligned carbon nanotubes, and show that the response is consistent with conventional radio antenna theory. We first demonstrate the polarization effect, the suppression of the reflected signal when the electric field of the incoming radiation is polarized perpendicular to the nanotube axis. Next, we observe the interference colors of the reflected light from an array, and show that they result from the length matching antenna effect. This antenna effect could be used in a variety of optoelectronic devices, including THz and IR detectors.

Light scattering from an array of aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has previously been investigated, [1,2] and shown to be consistent with that from an array of antennae. Two basic antenna effects have been demonstrated: 1) the polarization effect, which suppresses the response of an antenna when the electric field of the incoming radiation is polarized perpendicular to the dipole antenna axis, and 2) the antenna-length effect, which maximizes the antenna response when the antenna length is a multiple of the radiation half wavelength in the medium surrounding the antenna. In these previous experiments a random nanotube array was chosen to eliminate the intertube diffraction effects. In this communication, we provide compelling evidence of the antenna action of an MWCNT, by demonstrating that its directional radiation characteristics are in an excellent and quantitative agreement with conventional radio antenna theory and simulations.According to conventional radio antenna theory, [3][4][5][6] a simple "thin" wire antenna (a metallic rod of diameter d and length l >> d) maximizes its response to a wavelength k when l = mk/2, where m is a positive integer. Thus, an antenna acts as a resonator of the external electromagnetic radiation. An antenna is a complex boundary value problem; it is a resonator for both the external fields, and the currents at the antenna surface. In a long radiating antenna, a periodic pattern of current distribution is excited along the antenna, synchronized with the pattern of fields outside. The current pattern consists of segments, with the current direction alternating from segment to segment. Thus, a long antenna can be viewed as an antenna array consisting of smaller, coherently driven antennae (segments) in series. Therefore, the resulting radiation pattern, as a function of the angle with respect to the antenna axis, consists of lobes of constructive interference, separated by radiation minima due to destructive interference. Consider a simple antenna as shown in Figure 1a. The radiation pattern produced by this antenna is rotationally symmetric about the z axis. For a center-fed antenna, or one excited by an external wave propagating perpendicular to the antenna axis (i.e., with the glancing angle h i = 90°), the pattern is also symmetric with respect to the x-y plane. For an antenna excited by an incoming wave propagating at an angle (h i < 90°), the relative strengths of the radiation lobes are expected to shift towards the specular direction. This follows from a qualitative argument based on the single-photon scattering picture, and conservation laws for scattered photons from an antenna. Since such scattering is elastic, the energy of each scattering photon បx (where ប is the reduced Planck constant and x is the angular frequency) and its total momentum បk = បk i  = បk s  (where k is the wave number, k i is the incident wave vector, and k s is the scattered wave vector) must be conserved. Due to the cylindrical symmetry, បK, the length of the momentum vector compo...

The power conversion efficiency of most thin film solar cells is compromised by competing optical and electronic constraints, wherein a cell must be thick enough to collect light yet thin enough to efficiently extract current. Here, we introduce a nanoscale solar architecture inspired by a well‐known radio technology concept, the coaxial cable, that naturally resolves this “thick–thin” conundrum. Optically thick and elec‐ tronically thin amorphous silicon “nanocoax” cells are in the range of 8% efficiency, higher than any nanostructured thin film solar cell to date. Moreover, the thin nature of the cells reduces the Staebler–Wronski light‐induced degradation effect, a major problem with conventional solar cells of this type. This nanocoax represents a new platform for low cost, high efficiency solar power. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

It had been demonstrated that large-scale honeycomb-like nanoparticle arrays could be fabricated inexpensively by the process of monolayer nanosphere self-assembly. Here we report that a double-layer masking procedure can be effectively used to overcome the restriction of honeycomb order in an array resulted from a monolayer mask. By varying the relative angle between the two layers, different arrangement of nanoparticles could be obtained. The relative angle can be directly controlled with the aid of diffraction patterns from illuminating the layers by a laser beam. Experimental results were fully confirmed by computer simulations. Using these nanoparticles as catalysts, we have grown arrays of aligned ZnO nanorods with various orders.

Large periodic arrays of carbon nanotubes have been grown by plasma-enhanced hot filament chemical vapor deposition on periodic arrays of nickel dots that were prepared by polystyrene nanosphere lithography. A single layer of self-assembled polystyrene spheres was first uniformly deposited on a silicon wafer as a mask, and then electron beam vaporization was used to deposit a nickel layer through the mask. The size of and spacing between the nickel dots are tunable by varying the diameter of the polystyrene spheres, which consequently determines the diameter and site density of carbon nanotubes. The technique can be scaled up at much lower cost than electron beam lithography.

The authors demonstrate transmission of visible light through metallic coaxial nanostructures many wavelengths in length, with coaxial electrode spacing much less than a wavelength. Since the light frequency is well below the plasma resonance in the metal of the electrodes, the propagating mode reduces to the well-known transverse electromagnetic mode of a coaxial waveguide. They have thus achieved a faithful analog of the conventional coaxial cable for visible light.