This three-year U.S. France cooperative research project involves Junichiro Kono and his group at Rice University and the research team, led by G. L. Rikken, at the Laboratoire National des Champs Magnetiques Pulses, at the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France. They propose to perform jointly magneto-absorption, magneto-luminescence, and electron spin resonance experiments on single-walled carbon nanotubes. The project adds an international dimension to the principal investigator's research grants, including his CAREER award, supported through NSF's Division of Materials Research.
Intellectual Merit Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are a nearly one-dimensional (1-D) system the possesses a wide range of novel and useful electronic, mechanical, magnetic, and optical properties. The goal of this project is to explore novel 1-D physics in the optical and spin resonance properties of SWNTs in high magnetic fields. SWNTs may provide an alternative to semiconductor quantum wires.
Broader Impacts The proposed joint experiments will advance knowledge on electronic states in nanostructures placed in intense magnetic fields and could lead to new nano-based materials. It takes advantage of unique facilities in France, in particular, a unique pulsed magnet of 75 Teslas that can be used for various optical experiments. The project also gives graduates students and postdoctoral students an international experience via research immersion with a leading group of French researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research.