Electron spectroscopy of single quantum objects to directly correlate the local structure to their electronic transport and optical properties

Abstract

Physical property of a single quantum object is governed by its precise atomic arrangement. The direct correlation of localized physical properties with the atomic structures has been therefore strongly desired but still limited in the theoretical studies. Here, we have successfully examined the localized electronic properties of individual carbon nanotubes by means of high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy combined with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Well-separated sharp peaks at the carbon K(1s) absorption edge and in the valence-loss spectra are obtained from a single freestanding carbon nanotube with the local chiral index and unambiguously identified as the transitions between the van Hove singularities. The spectra features clearly vary upon the different areas even in the individual carbon nanotube. Variations in interband transitions, plasmonic behaviors and unoccupied electronic structures are clearly attributed to the local irregular atomic arrangement such as topological defect and/or elastic bond stretching.

arXiv commentThis document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Nano Letters, copyright \c{opyright} American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see [https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00825]

References in corpus (4)

• Optical excitations in electron microscopy
• Linear plasmon dispersion in single-wall carbon nanotubes and the collective excitation spectrum of graphene
• Plasmonic Nature of the Terahertz Conductivity Peak in Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes
• Transition from a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid to a Fermi liquid in potassium intercalated bundles of single wall carbon nanotubes

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Intersubband plasmon excitations in doped carbon nanotubes
• Coupling and decoupling of bilayer graphene monitored by electron energy loss spectroscopy
• Experimental determination of the local optical conductivity of a semiconducting carbon nanotube and its modification at individual defects
• Optical Absorption and Energy Loss Spectroscopy of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
• LCAO-TDDFT-$k$-$\omega$: Spectroscopy in the Optical Limit
• Direct observation of locally modified excitonic effect within a moiré unit cell in twisted bilayer graphene