Improvement of optoelectronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotube films by laser treatment

An implementation of carbon nanotube films in optoelectronic devices is still a challenging task which requires further improvement of their both optical and electrical properties. Here, we report an approach to enhance the transmittance of single-walled carbon nanotube films placed onto polymeric substrates without losses in the film conductivity by a low-power laser treatment. Laser pulses facilitate oxidation of nanotube caps thereby exposing iron catalytic particles due to fast local heating which leads to the oxidation of iron whereas the nanotube structure generally remains intact. Thus, we approached transmittance enhancement mainly across the visible range up to 4% (at 550 nm) associated with equivalent sheet resistance improvement of ca. 21%.