Excitonic electroabsorption effects in macroscopically aligned carbon nanotubes

宏观排列碳纳米管中的激子电吸收效应

• 批准号: 2321366
• 负责人: Weilu Gao
• 金额: $ 25.07万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2321366&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Excitonic; electroabsorption; effects; macroscopically; aligned

Non-technical Description Carbon nanotubes have gained tremendous interest as a nanomaterial with potential to enable next generation optoelectronic devices. Individual nanotubes have a strong change in light absorption under an applied electric field, a phenomenon called electroabsorption. This makes them a promising candidate for high-speed electro-optic modulators, crucial components for applications such as optical communication, computing, and quantum information processing. Key to leveraging nanotube properties will be to align large numbers of them up to macroscopic scales. This project will use an intelligent autonomous self-assembly system to achieve macroscopically aligned semiconducting carbon nanotube films and then study their electro-optical properties. The research findings from this project could lead to a new material platform and lay the foundation for future technologies. The PI will also work to expand participation in STEM through training and education activities in the laboratory, classroom, and through outreach programs. The goal of these activities is to develop a diverse future STEM workforce. Technical DescriptionElectroabsorption in conventional bulk semiconductors result in weak optical modulation, requiring large driving electric field and switching energy, and are sensitive to temperature variations. Semiconductor quantum wells can address first two challenges but still suffer from sensitive temperature dependency, require sophisticated manufacturing and engineering, and sometimes cryogenic device operations. Nanomaterials are emerging as new high-performance, versatile, and easy-to-manufacture room-temperature material platforms. However, current demonstrations of electroabsorption effects in macroscopic materials are limited. This project focuses on the direct experimental optical spectroscopy demonstration of the excitonic electroabsorption effects in macroscopic films of highly aligned and densely packed single-type semiconducting carbon nanotubes, which are manufactured through a self-assembly system and driven under static electric field. The goal of this project is to establish the manufacturing platform of such macroscopic carbon nanotube ensembles and explore the optical spectroscopy evidence of their electroabsorption effects. Specifically, the principal investigator develops a closed-loop, automatic, and machine-learning-assisted vacuum filtration system toward the fabrication of macroscopic films of aligned single-electronic-type carbon nanotubes. In addition, the principal investigator performs optical spectroscopy studies to explore electroabsorption effects in aligned films of a few representative semiconducting carbon nanotubes with different diameters.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

非技术描述碳纳米管作为一种具有实现下一代光电器件潜力的纳米材料，已经引起了极大的兴趣。单个纳米管在外加电场下的光吸收发生强烈变化，这种现象称为电吸收。这使得它们成为高速电光调制器的有希望的候选者，高速电光调制器是光通信、计算和量子信息处理等应用的关键部件。利用纳米管特性的关键是将大量纳米管排列到宏观尺度。该项目将使用智能自主自组装系统实现宏观取向的半导体碳纳米管薄膜，然后研究其电光特性。该项目的研究成果可能会导致一个新的材料平台，并为未来的技术奠定基础。PI还将努力通过实验室，教室和外展计划的培训和教育活动扩大STEM的参与。这些活动的目标是发展多元化的未来STEM劳动力。 传统体半导体中的电吸收导致弱光调制，需要大的驱动电场和开关能量，并且对温度变化敏感。半导体量子威尔斯可以解决前两个挑战，但是仍然遭受敏感的温度依赖性，需要复杂的制造和工程，并且有时需要低温器件操作。纳米材料正在成为新的高性能，多功能和易于制造的室温材料平台。然而，目前在宏观材料中的电吸收效应的演示是有限的。该项目的重点是直接实验光学光谱演示的激子电吸收效应的宏观膜的高度对齐和密集堆积的单型半导体碳纳米管，这是通过自组装系统制造和驱动下的静电场。本计画的目标是建立这种宏观碳奈米管集合体的制造平台，并探讨其电吸收效应的光谱学证据。具体而言，主要研究者开发了一种闭环，自动和机器学习辅助的真空过滤系统，用于制造对齐的单电子型碳纳米管的宏观薄膜。此外，首席研究员还进行光谱学研究，以探索具有代表性的几种不同直径的半导体碳纳米管的排列薄膜中的电吸收效应。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。