Abstract

After more than a quarter century’s intense research and exploration for their distinctive physical properties and potential applications, carbon nanotubes remain an active research field with many surprises and opportunities. Recent advances in nano-optics provide a powerful tool to optically characterize carbon nanotubes with a defined chiral index at the single-nanotube level. Here we review our recent effort along this direction, including (1) combining transmission electron microscopy and single-nanotube optical spectroscopy to establish an atlas for carbon nanotube optical transitions and (2) developing a high-contrast polarization microscope for real-time optical imaging and in situ spectroscopy of individual nanotubes in devices. We will also discuss the importance of such characterizations for controlled nanotube growth and for understanding chirality-dependent device behaviors.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

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