Synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes and their electro-thermal and opto-electronic properties

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are molecular quantum wires (diameter ∼ 1nm) which have been shown to have a wide variety of potential applications. They are highly chemically stable and exhibit outstanding electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and mechanical strength. Interestingly, SWNTs come in both metallic and semiconducting varieties with a range of diameters.; Typical SWNT synthesis yields a mixture of 2/3 semiconducting and 1/3 metallic nanotubes. In the first half of this thesis, I will provide an overview on nanotube synthesis and then describe our development of a unique technique to produce nearly 90% semiconducting nanotubes by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. I will then explore the production of high quality thin films of SWNTs and a novel method with which to transfer them to any surface.; In the second half of this thesis, I will discuss the production of SWNT electronic devices and the improvement of SWNT electrical contacts by using palladium and platinum. I will then describe the first reported measurement of the extremely high thermal conductivity (∼3600 W/mK, similar to diamond) of an individual SWNT and the interesting discovery of nonequilibrium optical phonons in high bias transport. I will conclude with the observation of thermal light emission from suspended SWNTs and an explanation of their rich spectral features in the visible and infrared.