Electronic Raman Scattering in Suspended Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes

The electronic Raman scattering (ERS) features of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can reveal a wealth of information about their electronic structures, but have previously been thought to appear exclusively in metallic (M-) but not in semiconducting (S-) SWNTs. We report the experimental observation of the ERS features with an accuracy of 1 meV in suspended S-SWNTs, the processes of which are accomplished via the available high-energy electron-hole pairs. The ERS features can facilitate further systematic studies on the properties of SWNT, both metallic and semiconducting, with defined chirality.