Many-particle excitations in non-covalently doped single-walled carbon nanotubes

Doping of single-walled carbon nanotubes leads to the formation of new energy levels which are able to participate in optical processes. Here, we investigate (6,5)-single walled carbon nanotubes doped in a solution of hydrochloric acid using optical absorption, photoluminescence, and pump-probe transient absorption techniques. We find that, beyond a certain level of doping, the optical spectra of such nanotubes exhibit the spectral features related to two doping-induced levels, which we assign to a localized exciton $$X$$ X and a trion T, appearing in addition to an ordinary exciton $${E}_{1}$$ E 1 . We evaluate the formation and relaxation kinetics of respective states and demonstrate that the kinetics difference between E1 and X energy levels perfectly matches the kinetics of the state T. This original finding evidences the formation of trions through nonradiative relaxation via the $$X$$ X level, rather than via a direct optical excitation from the ground energy state of nanotubes.