Optical properties of ultrashort semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube capsules down to sub-10 nm

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are typically long (≳100 nm) and have been well established as novel quasi one-dimensional systems with interesting electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. Here, quasi zero-dimensional SWNTs with finite lengths down to the molecular scale (7.5 nm in average) were obtained by length separation using a density gradient ultracentrifugation method. Different sedimentation rates of nanotubes with different lengths in a density gradient were taken advantage of to sort SWNTs according to length. Optical experiments on the SWNT fractions revealed that the UV−vis−NIR absorption and photoluminescence peaks of the ultrashort SWNTs blue-shift up to ∼30 meV compared to long nanotubes, owing to quantum confinement effects along the length of ultrashort SWNTs. These nanotube capsules essentially correspond to SWNT quantum dots.