Raman probing of uniaxial strain in individual single-wall carbon nanotubes in a composite material

International audienceThe temperature dependence of the Raman spectrum of a gelatine-based composite material doped with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT@gelatin) is reported. A significant up-shift of the G-mode frequency is observed when the temperature is decreased from room temperature to 20~K. This frequency shift is significantly stronger than the one found for pure thermal effects. In contrast, the features of the radial breathing modes (frequencies and width) display no significant change in the same temperature range. These results are well understood by considering a uniaxial strain on the nanotube induced by the thermal expansitivity mismatch between the nanotube and the surrounding matrix