Nanostructures of Indium Gallium Nitride Crystals Grown on Carbon Nanotubes

Nanostructure (NS) InGaN crystals were grown on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The NS-InGaN crystals, grown on a ~5-μm-long CNT/Si template, were estimated to be ~100–270 nm in size. Transmission electron microscope examinations revealed that single-crystalline InGaN NSs were formed with different crystal facets. The observed green (~500 nm) cathodoluminescence (CL) emission was consistent with the surface image of the NS-InGaN crystallites, indicating excellent optical properties of the InGaN NSs on CNTs. Moreover, the CL spectrum of InGaN NSs showed a broad emission band from 490 to 600 nm. Based on these results, we believe that InGaN NSs grown on CNTs could aid in overcoming the green gap in LED technologies.

Carbon nanotubes and graphene towards soft electronics

Although silicon technology has been the main driving force for miniaturizing device dimensions to improve cost and performance, the current application of Si to soft electronics (flexible and stretchable electronics) is limited due to material rigidity. As a result, various prospective materials have been proposed to overcome the rigidity of conventional Si technology. In particular, nano-carbon materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene are promising due to outstanding elastic properties as well as an excellent combination of electronic, optoelectronic, and thermal properties compared to conventional rigid silicon. The uniqueness of these nano-carbon materials has opened new possibilities for soft electronics, which is another technological trend in the market. This review covers the recent progress of soft electronics research based on CNTs and graphene. We discuss the strategies for soft electronics with nano-carbon materials and their preparation methods (growth and transfer techniques) to devices as well as the electrical characteristics of transparent conducting films (transparency and sheet resistance) and device performances in field effect transistor (FET) (structure, carrier type, on/off ratio, and mobility). In addition to discussing state of the art performance metrics, we also attempt to clarify trade-off issues and methods to control the trade-off on/off versus mobility). We further demonstrate accomplishments of the CNT network in flexible integrated circuits on plastic substrates that have attractive characteristics. A future research direction is also proposed to overcome current technological obstacles necessary to realize commercially feasible soft electronics.

Observation of localized strains on vertically grown single-walled carbon nanotube forests via polarized Raman spectroscopy

Vertically grown single-walled carbon nanotube (V-SWCNT) forests, synthesized by water-assisted plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, were studied using polarized micro-Raman spectroscopy. Among three different sections (root, center and end) along the vertical growth direction, the degree of V-SWCNT alignment was highest in the center section. Raman frequency red-shifts up to 7 and 13 cm(-1), for RBM and G-band, respectively, were observed in the center section, with respect to the Raman frequencies measured in the root and the end sections. Raman frequency downshift and concurrent linewidth broadening of the G-band, revealing a localized strain, were also observed in the center section. The existence of a localized strain in the center section of the V-SWCNT was further confirmed by observing a strong polarization anisotropy of up to 8 cm(-1) in the G-band Raman frequency for different polarized Raman scattering configurations at the same probed spot.