July, 2014
www.us-tech.com
Terahertz Detectors with Carbon Nanotubes Improve Image Detection
Continued from page 6
team’s most important achieve- ments, Léonard said. “Carbon nanotube thin films are
extremely good absorbers of electro- magnetic light,” he explained. In the terahertz range, it turns out that thin films of these nanotubes will soak up all of the incoming terahertz radia- tion. Nanotube films have even been called “the blackest material” for their ability to absorb light effectively.
“With this technology, you could conceivably design a hand-held terahertz detec- tion camera that images tu- mors in real-time, with pin- point accuracy,” explains Junichiro Kono of Rice University
The researchers were able to
wrap together several nanoscopic- sized tubes to create a macroscopic thin film that contains a mix of metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes. “Trying to do that with a different kind of material would be nearly impossible, since a semicon- ductor and a metal couldn’t coexist at the nanoscale at high density,” ex- plained Kono. “But that’s what we’ve achieved with the carbon nanotubes.” The technique is key, he said,
because it combines the superb tera- hertz absorption properties of the metallic nanotubes and the unique electronic properties of the semicon-
ducting carbon nanotubes. This al- lows researchers to achieve a pho- todetector that does not require pow- er to operate, with performance com- parable to existing technology.
Performance Improvement The next step for researchers,
Léonard said, is to improve the de- sign, engineering and performance of the terahertz detector. For example, they need to inte-
grate an independent terahertz radi- ation source with the detector for ap- plications that require a source, Léonard said. The team also needs to incorporate electronics into the sys- tem and to further improve proper- ties of the carbon nanotube material. “We have some very clear ideas
about how we can achieve these tech- nical goals,” said Léonard, adding that new collaborations with industry or government agencies are welcome. “Our technical accomplish-
ments open up a new path for tera- hertz technology, and I am particu- larly proud of the multidisciplinary and collaborative nature of this work across three institutions,” he said. In addition to Sandia, Rice and
the Tokyo Tech, the project received contributions from researchers tak- ing part in Nano Japan, a 12-week summer program that enables fresh- man and sophomore physics and en- gineering students from U.S. univer- sities to complete nanoscience re- search internships in Japan focused on terahertz nanoscience. Web:
www.sandia.gov r
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