Electrically generated surface plasmons by electroluminescence of individual carbon nanotube field effect transistor

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates an electrically-driven source of surface plasmon polaritons using single-walled carbon nanotube transistors that emit light and couple to propagating plasmons at ambient conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated plasmonic source based on electroluminescent carbon nanotube transistors compatible with nano-optoelectronic devices.

Findings

Photon emission couples to surface plasmons at the metal-glass interface.

Device operates at ambient conditions as an electroluminescence source.

Plasmon modes are localized near gold electrodes.

Abstract

We demonstrate the realization of an electrically-driven integrated source of surface plasmon polaritons. Light-emitting individual single-walled carbon nanotube field effect transistors were fabricated in a plasmonic-ready platform. The devices were operated at ambient condition to act as an electroluminescence source localized near the contacting gold electrodes. We show that photon emission from the semiconducting channel can couple to propagating surface plasmons developing in the electrical terminals. Momentum-space spectroscopy suggests that excited plasmon modes are bound to the metal-glass interface. Our results underline the high degree of compatibility between state-of-the art nano-optoelectronic devices and plasmonic architectures.