title: Experimental observation of extremely weak optical scattering from an interlocking carbon nanotube array.
abstract: We experimentally demonstrate a nearly wavelength-independent optical reflection from an extremely rough carbon nanotube sample. The sample is made of a vertically aligned nanotube array, is a super dark material, and exhibits a near-perfect blackbody emission at T=450 K-600 K. No other material exhibits such optical properties, i.e., ultralow reflectance accompanied by a lack of wavelength scaling behavior. This observation is a result of the lowest ever measured reflectance (R=0.0003) of the sample over a broad infrared wavelength of 3 μm < λ < 13 μm. This discovery may be attributed to the unique interlocking surface of the nanotube array, consisting of both a global, large scale and a short-range randomness.
authors.affiliation: Future Chips Constellation and Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180, USA.
authors.forename: Zu-Po
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Mei-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bur
authors.forename: Lijie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ci
authors.forename: Leonard M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hanssen
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilthan
authors.forename: Pulickel M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ajayan
authors.forename: Shawn-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lin