Electrical generation and absorption of phonons in carbon nanotubes

• Published in: Nature 2004-11, Vol.432 (7015), p.371-374
• Main Authors: Dekker, C, LeRoy, B. J, Lemay, S. G, Kong, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption; Carbon; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Electric currents; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic structure of nanoscale materials : clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Exact sciences and technology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lattice dynamics; letter; Molecules; multidisciplinary; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Oscillators; Phonons in low-dimensional structures and small particles; Physical properties; Physics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/nature03046

The interplay between discrete vibrational and electronic degrees of freedom directly influences the chemical and physical properties of molecular systems. This coupling is typically studied through optical methods such as fluorescence, absorption and Raman spectroscopy. Molecular electronic devices provide new opportunities for exploring vibration-electronic interactions at the single molecule level. For example, electrons injected from a scanning tunnelling microscope tip into a metal can excite vibrational excitations of a molecule situated in the gap between tip and metal. Here we show how current directly injected into a freely suspended individual single-wall carbon nanotube can be used to excite, detect and control a specific vibrational mode of the molecule. Electrons tunnelling inelastically into the nanotube cause a non-equilibrium occupation of the radial breathing mode, leading to both stimulated emission and absorption of phonons by successive electron tunnelling events. We exploit this effect to measure a phonon lifetime of the order of 10 ns, corresponding to a quality factor of well over 10,000 for this nanomechanical oscillator.