Indexing of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes from Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

From combined Raman spectroscopy and electron diffraction studies on several freestanding single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), we define Raman criteria which correlate the main features of the Raman spectrum (radial breathing mode and G modes) and the optical transition energies with the structure of the SWNT under investigation. On this basis, we discuss the possibilities to determine the (n,m) indices of an individual SWNT from a single wavelength Raman experiment. We show the efficiency of this approach in assigning the (n,m) structure of different individual nanotubes including all types of achiral SWNTs. Finally, the limits and the accuracy of the method are discussed.