Recognition of metallic and semiconductor single-wall carbon nanotubes using the photoelectric method

•The model of sensory structure based on a deep silicon barrier has been developed.•The recombinational transducer is appropriate for therecognition of nanotubes conductivity type•The adsorption of surfactant at the surface ofmetallic and semiconductor tubes modifies theirdielectric properties.•The dependences of photocurrent on pre-surface band bending arecalculated [Display omitted] an innovative application of deep barrier silicon structures for sensory devices with photoelectrical transformation has been suggested. The principal possibility of the photovoltaic transducer implementation for identification of metallic and semiconductor single-wall carbon nanotubes covered with surfactant in water solution was analyzed in detail. The obtained results are qualitatively explained by local electrostatic influence on the parameters of recombination centers at the silicon surface. This influence can be associated with the dipole moment of molecules absorbed at the surface of the nanotube from surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS). Moreover, the spatial configuration of charged fragments near the defects at the silicon surface can occur. Another possible reason for carbon nanotubes identification is due to the different polarizability of metallic and semiconductor nanotubes. These results are explained in the frame of Stevenson-Keyes's theory. The reported effect can be further applied as the basis for the control and selection of carbon nanotubes with different conductivity types.