Optical detection of argon gas flow based on vibration-induced change in photoluminescence of a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube bundle

In this work, we demonstrate that Ar gas flow can be optically detected using mechanical vibration of a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) bundle as a platform. A change in the photoluminescence (PL) intensity was induced by out-of-focusing of the SWCNT bundle of interest due to vibration caused by the introduced gas stream, for which a gas flow control system was installed in an optical microscope. The PL intensity was found to change systemically with the Ar flow rates in a range of relatively large flow rate intervals [0.70 to 3.0 standard cubic liters per minute (SLM) with 0.1-0.5 SLM intervals] with a noticeable hysteresis. It was, however, difficult to obtain a detectable PL change in a range of very small flow rate intervals (0.67 to 0.70 SLM with a 0.01 SLM interval). The detailed results and underlying mechanism are discussed in detail.