Energy distribution for undergate-type triode carbon nanotube field emitters

Abstract

Field emission energy distribution (FEED) has been measured for undergate-type triode carbon nanotube (CNT) field emitters where the gate electrodes are located underneath the cathode electrodes. The diode-type emission for these CNT emitters was found to follow the Fowler–Nordheim relation, whereas the triode-type emission exhibited the deviation from this relation. The FEED peaks for the undergate CNT emitters under the triode-type emission shifted to lower energy as the gate voltage increased, indicating nonmetallic behavior for the CNT emitters. There exist two different characteristic FEED peaks, where their peak energy shifts as a function of the gate voltage belong to two different slopes. From the difference in the position and intensity of the peaks, it was found that one was field emission directly from CNTs and the other might be emitted from CNTs through glass powders which were added during the CNT field emitter fabrication process.