Electric field quenching of carbon nanotube photoluminescence

The effect of external electric fields on the photoluminescence intensity of single-walled carbon nanotubes was investigated for individual nanotubes and bulk samples in polymeric films. Fields of up to 10(7) V/m caused dramatic, reversible decreases in emission intensity. Quenching efficiency varied as the cosine of the angle between the field and nanotube axis and decreased with increasing optical band gap. Photoluminescence intensity was found to follow a reciprocal hyperbolic cosine dependence on electric field.