Carbon nanotube electron blackbody and its radiation spectra.

An optical blackbody is an ideal absorber for all incident optical radiation, and the theoretical study of its radiation spectra paved the way for quantum mechanics (Planck's law). Herein, we propose the concept of an electron blackbody, which is a perfect electron absorber as well as an electron emitter with standard energy spectra at different temperatures. Vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays are electron blackbodies with an electron absorption coefficient of 0.95 for incident energy ranging from 1 keV to 20 keV and standard electron emission spectra that fit well with the free electron gas model. Such a concept might also be generalized to blackbodies for extreme ultraviolet, X-ray, and γ-ray photons as well as neutrons, protons, and other elementary particles.

On-chip torsion balances with femtonewton force resolution at room temperature enabled by carbon nanotube and graphene.

The torsion balance, consisting of a rigid balance beam suspended by a fine thread, is an ancient scientific instrument, yet it is still a very sensitive force sensor to date. As the force sensitivity is proportional to the lengths of the beam and thread, but inversely proportional to the fourth power of the diameter of the thread, nanomaterials should be ideal building blocks for torsion balances. Here, we report a torsional balance array on a chip with the highest sensitivity level enabled by using a carbon nanotube as the thread and a monolayer graphene coated with Al nanofilms as the beam and mirror. It is demonstrated that the femtonewton force exerted by a weak laser can be easily measured. The balances on the chip should serve as an ideal platform for investigating fundamental interactions up to zeptonewton in accuracy in the near future.

Flexible, stretchable, transparent carbon nanotube thin film loudspeakers.

We found that very thin carbon nanotube films, once fed by sound frequency electric currents, could emit loud sounds. This phenomenon could be attributed to a thermoacoustic effect. The ultra small heat capacity per unit area of carbon nanotube thin films leads to a wide frequency response range and a high sound pressure level. On the basis of this finding, we made practical carbon nanotube thin film loudspeakers, which possess the merits of nanometer thickness and are transparent, flexible, stretchable, and magnet-free. Such a single-element thin film loudspeaker can be tailored into any shape and size, freestanding or on any insulating surfaces, which could open up new applications of and approaches to manufacturing loudspeakers and other acoustic devices.