We measure the spectrum and efficiency of the infrared light emission from ambipolar carbon nanotube field-effect transistors. The width of the emission peak is strongly device-structure dependent. Long devices (∼50 µm) show narrow spectral peaks that we attribute to relaxed carrier recombination, while short devices (∼500 nm) show broad peaks due to hot carrier recombination. The hot carrier distribution is limited to energies below the energies of the optical/zone boundary phonons near 180 meV. The efficiency of the radiative recombination is between 10 -6 and 10 -7 photons/electron−hole pair, and the possible quenching mechanisms are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.