Single wall carbon nanotubes as coherent plasmon generators

TL;DR

This paper theoretically demonstrates that excitons in small-diameter single wall carbon nanotubes can amplify surface plasmons, creating coherent localized fields useful for advanced optoelectronic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for low-energy surface plasmon amplification via exciton-plasmon energy transfer in carbon nanotubes, enabling new nanoscale optoelectronic functionalities.

Findings

Nonradiative exciton-plasmon energy transfer causes plasmon buildup.

Coherent localized surface plasmons form with high-intensity local fields.

Potential applications include sensing, optical switching, and nanoscale material modification.

Abstract

The possibility of low-energy surface plasmon amplification by optically excited excitons in small-diameter single wall carbon nanotubes is theoretically demonstrated. The nonradiative exciton-plasmon energy transfer causes the buildup of the macroscopic population numbers of coherent localized surface plasmons associated with high-intensity coherent local fields formed at nanoscale throughout the nanotube surface. These strong local fields can be used in a variety of new optoelectronic applications of carbon nanotubes, including near-field nonlinear-optical probing and sensing, optical switching, enhanced electromagnetic absorption, and materials nanoscale modification.