Theory and Ab Initio Calculation of Radiative Lifetime of Excitons in Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes

Catalin D. Spataru, Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, Rodrigo B. Capaz, and Steven G. Louie
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 247402 – Published 9 December 2005

Abstract

We present a theoretical analysis and first-principles calculation of the radiative lifetime of excitons in semiconducting carbon nanotubes. An intrinsic lifetime of the order of 10 ps is computed for the lowest optically active bright excitons. The intrinsic lifetime is, however, a rapid increasing function of the exciton momentum. Moreover, the electronic structure of the nanotubes dictates the existence of dark excitons near in energy to each bright exciton. Both effects strongly influence measured lifetime. Assuming a thermal occupation of bright and dark exciton bands, we find an effective lifetime of the order of 10 ns at room temperature, in good accord with recent experiments.

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  • Received 4 July 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.247402

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Catalin D. Spataru1,2, Sohrab Ismail-Beigi3, Rodrigo B. Capaz1,2,4, and Steven G. Louie1,2

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 3Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
  • 4Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 68528, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-972, Brazil

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Vol. 95, Iss. 24 — 9 December 2005

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