Degradation of carbon nanotube field emitters driven by anode adsorbed water

Abstract

The field degradation of carbon nanotube field emitters in diode emission at constant current was demonstrated to be highly dependent upon the presence of water at partial pressures as low as 10−9Torr. The anode surface was also seen to significantly impact the degradation rate, with metallic Al films yielding the worst degradation rates. Coating the anode surface with a carbon or polymer film lowered the degradation rate. It is suggested that a majority of the degradation seen in nanotube field emission devices is due to ionization of water adsorbed at the anode surface.