High-speed high-sensitivity carbon nanotube-based composite bolometers

ABSTRACT In this work films of horizontally aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes were thermally and electrically characterized in order to determine their bolometric performance. Studies were conducted on semiconducting carbon nanotubes, metallic carbon nanotubes, and a mixture. Results show that composite morphology along with carbon nanotube chirality play significant roles in bolometer performance, with cracked composite films having higher responsivity and TCR values but increased variability. Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, bolometers, infrared detectors. *e-mail: javier.gonzalez@uaslp.mx ; phone: +52 (444) 826-2300 ext. 8416. 1. INTRODUCTION The unique optoelectronic properties of carbon nanotubes make them a suitable material for infrared sensors [1-3]. One growing area of research is in the application of carbon nanotubes to microbolometers, which are a specific class of infrared detectors [4]. In this work, self-assembled films of SWNTs, either metallic, semiconductive, or a mixture of both were thermally and electrically characterized in order to determin e their bolometric performance.