Universality in the Photophysics of pi-Conjugated Polymers and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

We describe both pi-conjugated polymers and semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes because of the remarkable similarities in their behavior under photoexcitation. The common themes between these two seemingly different classes of materials are pi-conjugation, quasi one-dimensionality, and strong Coulomb interactions. Theoretical understanding of both systems requires going beyond traditional band theory. We present our current understanding of the electronic structures and excited state absorptions in both systems within a common theoretical model. Our aim is to give physical interpretations of experiments that have been performed and to give guidance to future experimental work.

References in corpus (8)

• Exciton binding energies in carbon nanotubes from two-photon photoluminescence
• Electron-electron interaction effects on optical excitations in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes
• Cross-polarized optical absorption of single-walled nanotubes probed by polarized photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy
• Universal properties of quasi-one-dimensional excitons in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes and $\pi$-conjugated polymers
• Quantitative calculations of the excitonic energy spectra of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes within a $\pi$-electron model
• pi-Electron theory of transverse optical excitons in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes
• Elucidation of the electronic structure of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes by electroabsorption spectroscopy
• Correlation effects for semiconducting single wall carbon nanotube: a density matrix renormalization group study