Extremely Efficient Multiple Electron-Hole Pair Generation in Carbon Nanotube Photodiodes

Abstract

Efficient Carbon Nanotube Photodiodes: A single photon absorbed in a single-walled carbon nanotube device can generate multiple unbound particles carrying an electric charge. Gabor et al. (p. 1367 ) report that in such a device at low temperatures, excitation with light of increasing energy leads to well-defined stepwise increases in current. Interestingly, because of the unique band structure of carbon nanotubes, this behavior is analogous to particle-antiparticle creation commonly observed in high-energy particle physics. These observations point to the promise of investigations in other nanoscale carbon systems, such as graphene, and could lead to numerous applications, including highly sensitive photon detection and ultra-efficient photovoltaics.