Enhanced chemical shift of carbon nanotube from laser assisted gas incorporation

We investigate the position-selected electronic structure of laser modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by scanning photoelectron microscopy. After laser pruning removed the top layer of CNTs in air and N-2 environment, the modified region shows enhanced chemical shifts of 0.9 and 0.6 eV in carbon 1s state, respectively. The modification of electronic structure is shown to be strongly dependent on the gaseous environment. We demonstrate an effective postgrowth process to modify the electronic structure of CNTs for further applications. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.