Exciton energy transfer-assisted photoluminescence brightening from freestanding single-walled carbon nanotube bundles.

Photoluminescence (PL) brightening is clearly observed through the direct morphology transition from isolated to thin bundled vertically- and individually freestanding single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). On the basis of the precise spectra analysis and equation-based estimation of the PL time trace, the origin of the PL brightening is consistently explained in terms of the exciton energy transfer through the tube bundles. The PL brightening is also revealed to obviously depend on SWNT diameters. Only the small-diameter rich sample can realize the PL brightening, which can be explained by the different concentrations of metallic SWNTs causing a PL quenching. Since it can be possible to fabricate brightly illuminating nanotubes on various kinds of substrates, the bundle engineering with freestanding nanotubes is expected to be a potential candidate for realizing the nanotube-based PL device fabrication.