C59N Peapods Sensing the Temperature

Yongfeng Li,Toshiro Kaneko,Rikizo Hatakeyama

doi:10.3390/s130100966

Yongfeng Li, Toshiro Kaneko + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/s130100966

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Abstract

We report the novel photoresponse of nanodevices made from azafullerene (C59N)-encapsulated single-walled carbon nanotubes (C59N@SWNTs), so called peapods. The photoconducting properties of a C59N@SWNT are measured over a temperature range of 10 to 300 K under a field-effect transistor configuration. It is found that the photosensitivity of C59N@SWNTs depends very sensitively on the temperature, making them an attractive candidate as a component of nanothermometers covering a wide temperature range. Our results indicate that it is possible to read the temperature by monitoring the optoelectronics signal of C59N@SWNTs. In particular, sensing low temperatures would become more convenient and easy by giving a simple light pulse.

Highlights

Sensing over a wide variety of temperature ranges is a challenging task, and most of the traditional thermometers are usually bulky, too large, and expensive
A TEM observation result of C59N@single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is shown in Figure 1(a), which indicates that C59N
A schematic diagram of field-effect transistor (FET) device with a C59N@SWNT as current channel is illustrated in Figure 2(a), and its corresponding AFM image of the FET device is shown in Figure 2(b), in which a C59N@SWNT contacting two Au electrodes is clearly observed, which well confirms that an individual C59N@SWNT plays the role of the current channel with gap width of 500 nm

Summary

Introduction

Sensing over a wide variety of temperature ranges is a challenging task, and most of the traditional thermometers are usually bulky, too large, and expensive. Compared with the case of multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the conductance change in SWNTs after modification with molecules or atoms makes them a potential material for sensor development [2,3,4,5,6]. SWNTs based on field-effect transistor configurations have shown unique or enhanced sensitivity toward gaseous species attracted much attention [7,8,9,10]. Up to now there are few reports about the sensor performance of SWNTs which is related to the temperature sensor In this work, it is the first time for us to develop a temperature sensor based on the configuration of field-effect transistor (FET) with a C59N@SWNT as current channel. Our findings indicate that the photoinduced current of C59N@SWNTs depends sensitively on the temperature, which makes them a promising candidate as a component of nanothermometers

Experimental Section

Results and Discussion

Conclusions