Synthesis and electronic properties of B-doped single wall carbon nanotubes Original Research Article

We analyse the doping dependence of boron substituted single wall carbon nanotubes at high boron content. A specially designed substitution process was used to produce nanotubes with about 15 and 10 at.% of boron. Irrespective of the doping level of boron atoms, the nanotubes still exhibit some unique and common electronic and optical properties. The changes in the electronic properties of the nanotubes as a function of doping were investigated using bulk sensitive high resolution EELS and optical absorption spectroscopy. In addition, electron diffraction and transmission electron microscopy show that the morphology and the crystal structure are hardly altered compared to pristine nanotubes.