Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube Field Emitters Using a Dip‐Coating Method

Abstract

Abstract A simple and robust dip‐coating method for fabricating carbon nanotube (CNT) field emitters has been proposed. The thin multiwalled (tMW)CNTs synthesized by CVD were dispersed in various solutions such as N , N‐ dimethylformamide (DMF), isopropyl alcohol (IPA), N ‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NMP), and dichloroethane (DCE). The weak adhesion between CNTs and substrate, a serious drawback of the dip‐coating approach, was resolved by anchoring CNTs to the substrate via the melting of an indium layer. We found that the uniformity and density of the CNTs could be optimized by controlling the degree of dispersion of CNTs in solvents. The field‐emission characteristics are also discussed.