Surface plasmon amplification under controlled exciton-plasmon coupling in individual carbon nanotubes

We theoretically demonstrate the possibility of low-energy surface plasmon amplification by optically excited excitons in small-diameter carbon nanotubes. The stimulated character of such an energy transfer causes the buildup of the macroscopic population numbers of coherent localized surface plasmons. As a consequence, high-intensity coherent optical-frequency fields are created at nanoscale throughout the nanotube surface. These strong local fields can be used in a variety of new optoelectronic applications of carbon nanotubes, including near-field nonlinear-optical probing and sensing, optical switching, enhanced electromagnetic absorption, and materials nanoscale modification. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)