Optical anisotropy of single walled carbon nanotubes investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry

The optical properties of single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films, produced by vacuum filtration, are correlated with their diameter and their in plane preferred orientation by coupling transmission and scanning electron microscopy to conventional ellipsometry. We focused on the optical anisotropy of this material and we demonstrated that it was originated from a breakdown in the selection rules.