Measurement of optical second-harmonic generation from an individual single-walled carbon nanotube

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that optical second-harmonic generation can be used to image and analyze individual single-walled carbon nanotubes, revealing their chiral properties and potential for non-destructive characterization.

Contribution

It provides the first evidence of SHG from single SWCNTs and shows its potential for imaging and determining nanotube chirality and handedness.

Findings

SHG observed from individual SWCNTs

SHG intensity correlates with nanotube chirality

Method enables optical determination of nanotube handedness

Abstract

We show that optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) can be observed from individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and, furthermore, allows imaging of individual tubes. Detailed analysis of our results suggests that the structural noncentrosymmetry, as required for SHG, arises from the non-zero chiral angle of the SWCNT. SHG thus has potential as a fast, non-destructive, and simple method for imaging of individual nanomolecules and for probing their chiral properties. Even more, it opens the possibility to optically determine the handedness of individual SWCNTs.