Modulation‐Doped Multiple Quantum Wells of Aligned Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Heterojunctions, quantum wells, and superlattices with precise doping profiles are behind today's electronic and photonic devices based on III–V compound semiconductors such as GaAs. Currently, there is considerable interest in constructing similar artificial 3D architectures with tailored electrical and optical properties by using van der Waals junctions of low‐dimensional materials. In this study, the authors have fabricated a novel structure consisting of multiple thin (≈20 nm) layers of aligned single‐wall carbon nanotubes with dopants inserted between the layers. This “modulation‐doped” multiple‐quantum‐well structure acts as a terahertz polarizer with an ultra‐broadband working frequency range (from ≈0.2 to ≈200 THz), a high extinction ratio (20 dB from ≈0.2 to 1 THz), and a low insertion loss (<2.5 dB from ≈0.2 to 200 THz). The individual carbon nanotube films—highly aligned, densely packed, and large (2 in. in diameter)—were produced using vacuum filtration and then stacked together in the presence of dopants. This simple, robust, and cost‐effective method is applicable to the fabrication of a variety of devices relying on macroscopically 1D properties of aligned carbon nanotube assemblies.