title: Efficient narrow-band light emission from a single carbon nanotube p-n diode.
abstract: Electrically driven light emission from carbon nanotubes could be used in nanoscale lasers and single-photon sources, and has therefore been the focus of much research. However, high electric fields and currents have either been necessary for electroluminescence, or have been an undesired side effect, leading to high power requirements and low efficiencies. Furthermore, electroluminescent linewidths have been broad enough to obscure the contributions of individual optical transitions. Here, we report electrically induced light emission from individual carbon nanotube p-n diodes. A new level of control over electrical carrier injection is achieved, reducing power dissipation by a factor of up to 1,000, and resulting in zero threshold current, negligible self-heating and high carrier-to-photon conversion efficiencies. Moreover, the electroluminescent spectra are significantly narrower ( approximately 35 meV) than in previous studies, allowing the identification of emission from free and localized excitons.
authors.affiliation: IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA. thomas.mueller@tuwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Vasili
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Perebeinos
authors.forename: Ageeth A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Bol
authors.forename: Damon B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Farmer
authors.forename: Phaedon
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Avouris