"NANOTECH: IBM's nanotubes yield smallest solid-state emitter"

IBM Research (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) announced in 2003 that it had invented carbon nanotube technology to enable the world's smallest solid-state emitter and the first electrically-controlled single-molecule light emitter. The light-emitting nanotube (LEN) operated in the important 1.5-micron range, portending optical communications on silicon chips with integrated 1.4-nm diameter LENs. "Our results show that nanotube-based light emitters can potentially be integrated with silicon electronic components, opening up new possibilities in electronics and optoelectronics," said Phaedon Avouris, manager of nanoscale science, IBM Research. IBM showed a detailed mathematical proof that is still relevant in 2005, along with verifying laboratory demonstrations of hitherto speculated properties of light emission by carbon nanotubes. In a nutshell, IBM discovered that simultaneous injection of electrons into one end, and holes into the other end, of a carbon nanotube causes it to emit light at the 1.5 micron wavelength.
Text: http://www.eetuk.com/tech/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16501210