Directing Energy Flow in Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes for Enhanced Optoelectronics

Semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (s-SWCNTs) are a unique class of semiconductor.s-SWCNTs hold significant promise for improving next generation optoelectronics because of their chirality dependent band, stability, conductivity and solution-processability.
More importantly, unlike the most common bulk semiconductors, s-SWCNT are intrinsically 1D. That means that, films made of aligned tubes can transport energy along a specified direction, allowing potentially to control energy and exciton flow in previously unprecedented ways. However, even if films of aligned s-SWCNT have been experimentally demonstrated, directional charge flow has not yet been measured nor has the absorbed light energy been converted into electricity.
The main aim of this project is to fabricate thin-film and devices of aligned SWCNT to investigate directional energy flow and its conversion into electrical current, by leveraging ultrafast spectroscopies.
This work is driven by three primary goals:1) isolating s-SWCNTs, depositing thin-films and incorporating them into photovoltaic devices; 2) exploiting two-dimensional electronic and photocurrent spectroscopy to examine the energy flow channels and kinetics, and 3) to explore ultrafast free-charge generation with sub-15 fs time resolution to understand how to enhance device performance.
This research methodology involves the development of innovative s-SWCNT device architectures, consisting of layered films with controlled bandgap gradients and aligned tubes, in order to optimize exciton and energy directionality and efficiency. Cutting-edge spectroscopic techniques will enable comprehensive mapping of the of energy and exciton dynamics.
Thought the integration of expertise from the hosting institutions; this project will contribute significantly to the understanding and employment of 1D energy flow in semiconducting materials, facilitating the development of more effective electronics and optoelectronics.