Premium
Cloaking by π‐electrons in the infrared
Author(s) -
Pekker Áron,
Németh Gergely,
Botos Ákos,
Tóháti Hajnalka M.,
Borondics Ferenc,
Osváth Zoltán,
Biró László P.,
Walker Kate,
Khlobystov Andrei N.,
Kamarás Katalin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.201600399
Subject(s) - cloaking , carbon nanotube , infrared , materials science , delocalized electron , graphene , polarizability , electron , metamaterial , molecule , infrared spectroscopy , dipole , boron nitride , chemical physics , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , optics , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
Hybrid materials composed of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as hollow containers and small molecules as fillers possess intriguing physical and chemical properties. Infrared spectroscopy is a useful method in most cases to characterize hybrid systems; however, regardless of the type of small molecule encapsulated in the SWCNT, the IR spectrum of the hybrid system remains silent. The possible explanation involves the highly polarizable π ‐electron system of the SWCNTs. Image charges induced in the SWCNT walls cancel out the transition dipole moment of the molecular vibrations resulting in the cloaking of the material inside the nanotube. To confirm the role of the delocalized π ‐electron system in this process, insulating boron nitride nanotubes filled with C 60 were also investigated and found to be transparent to infrared radiation. We have also demonstrated the cloaking effect in two dimensions using a thin film of C 60 covered by single layer graphene. The significance of our results lies in the fact that the cloaking layer is a real material, not a metamaterial.