Fabrication of luminescent carbon nanotubes

Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were fabricated by chemical vapor deposition on patterned SiO2 surfaces using ethanol as the precursor. These SWNTs were suspended between SiO2 pillars or stripes and were featured by strong luminescence in the infrared spectral region at room temperature. Reflecting the one-dimensional confinement effect in a quantum wire, the luminescence linewidth was, smaller than the thermal energy. The emission peaks were coincident with those predicted from Kataura plot. The chirality of the SWNTs was determined simply from the emission spectra. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.