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Broad-band, High-efficiency Optical Absorbers Derived From Carbon Nanomaterials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2013

Anupama B. Kaul*
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
James Coles
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
Michael Eastwood
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
Robert Green
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
Prabhakar Bandaru
Affiliation:
Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San-Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
*
*Corresponding Author, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Optical absorption efficiency, an important metric for sensing, radiometric and energy harvesting applications, has been studied theoretically and experimentally in porous, ordered nanostructures, including multi-walled- (MW) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and single-walled- (SW) CNTs. We have characterized the absorption efficiencies in the 350 nm -7000 nm wavelength range of vertically aligned MWCNT arrays with high site densities synthesized directly on metallic substrates using a plasma-enhanced (PE)- chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Our ultra-thin absorbers exhibit a reflectance as low as ∼ 0.02 % (100 X lower than the benchmark). Such high efficiency absorbers are particularly attractive for radiometry, as well as energy harnessing applications. This work increases the portfolio of materials that can be integrated with such absorbers due to the potential for reduced synthesis temperatures arising from a plasma process. Optical modeling calculations were conducted that enabled a determination of the extinction coefficient in the films.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013

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Footnotes

(invited paper)

References

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