Swift heavy ion induced modifications of single walled carbon nanotube thin films

Thin films of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were prepared by Langmuir–Blodgett method and irradiated with swift heavy ions, carbon and nickel each of energy 60 MeV. The ion beams have different electronic energy loss (Se) values and the samples were exposed to various irradiation doses. The irradiated films were characterized using Raman and optical absorption spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy results indicate the competing processes of defect creation and healing (annealing) of SWCNTs at lower fluences, while at higher fluences defect creation or damage dominates. In UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy we find that there is decrease in the intensity of characteristic peaks with every increasing fluence, indicating decrease in the optically active states with irradiation.