Yes. Researchers have made carbon nanotube devices emit light using electrical current, and have also demonstrated nanotubes emitting higher-energy light after infrared illumination. These are distinct laboratory effects, not evidence that nanotubes are already used in ordinary consumer lamps.
What does “glowing” mean for a carbon nanotube?
It does not describe one universal process. Depending on the experiment, light can come from electrical excitation, heating, or optical excitation that leads to higher-energy emission. The nanotube type, contacts, surrounding device and operating conditions all matter.
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In electrical experiments, a voltage or current drives a nanotube device and light is measured from it. In optical up-conversion, incoming infrared light is associated with emission at greater energy. These findings address different ways to produce light; they should not be treated as interchangeable evidence for a single nanotube lighting technology.
How have nanotube devices emitted light electrically?
Phonon-assisted emission in biased devices
A 2010 Nano Letters study reported visible-spectrum emission from biased metallic single-wall nanotube devices, with peaks at 1.4 and 1.8 eV. The authors proposed “phonon-assisted radiative decay” as the explanation. Similar peaks were reported for multiwall nanotube and few-layer graphene devices. These are results for the particular structures studied, not a universal color or output for carbon nanotubes. American Chemical Society, 2010.
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Thermal light emission
A separate 2007 Nature Nanotechnology paper described electrically driven thermal light emission from individual single-walled nanotubes. Its mechanism and experimental configuration differ from the phonon-assisted interpretation proposed in the 2010 work. Nature Nanotechnology, 2007.
Hot electrons and nonequilibrium phonons
A 2007 Applied Physics Letters study examined emission from suspended quasimetallic nanotubes. It linked the light to hot electrons in the presence of electrically driven, nonequilibrium optical phonons. The Australian National University record summarizes measurements at different temperatures and ambient pressures, including measurements down to approximately 15 K. That temperature is a condition reached in this study, not a recommended operating temperature for nanotube devices generally. Australian National University record, 2007.
Electrolyte-gated and aligned-array devices
Other designs produce different forms of electroluminescence. A 2009 study reported near-infrared emission from ambipolar, electrolyte-gated arrays of highly aligned single-walled nanotubes, with emission spots associated with individual nanotubes. ACS Nano, 2009.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesA 2012 study of aligned single-wall nanotube arrays with asymmetric metal contacts identified exciton-mediated electron-hole recombination near the lower-work-function contact as the dominant mechanism in that device design. This contact-dependent explanation should not be generalized to every nanotube light-emission experiment. ACS Nano, 2012.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is optical up-conversion?
In February 2025, RIKEN described nanotubes emitting light with greater energy than the infrared light shone on them. The highlight discusses the researchers’ proposed explanation for how this occurs. Because the emitted light has greater energy than the incident light, this is an up-conversion result—not simply the same electrically driven emission seen in the studies above. RIKEN, February 20, 2025.
RIKEN identifies solar power and biological imaging as possible applications. Those are prospective uses, not evidence that nanotube-based solar systems or imaging products are already commercially established.
What do these results establish—and what do they not?
Together, the studies show that light emission from nanotubes is experimentally possible under several carefully designed conditions. They do not establish a general-purpose carbon nanotube lamp, a consumer lighting product, or market-wide performance figures such as efficiency. The reported energy peaks and low-temperature measurements belong to individual experiments; they are not industry benchmarks.
The practical significance is therefore scientific: researchers can investigate how nanotube composition, electrical contacts, excitation and device structure affect emission. Whether any such effect becomes useful in a particular application depends on performance and engineering evidence beyond the demonstrations described here.
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