Field emission characteristics of carbon nanotube emitters synthesized by arc discharge

Abstract

The fabrication of carbon nanotube emitters with excellent emission properties is described. The nanotubes synthesized by arc discharge are used as electron emitters. The fibrous bundles containing nanotubes were crushed, mixed with conductive pastes, and slurries and then screen printed. The scanning electron microscopy images showed that the nanotubes were disordered and the average diameter was about several tens of nanometers. In a diode structure, the electron field emission can be turned on at a field as low as 2 V/μm and attains current density as large as 7.2 mA/cm2. No significant degradation of these performance is observed for thus made electron emitters, operated under 3 V/μm (J=2.8 mA/cm2) for tens of hours. The influence of the growth condition and post-treatment process on the emission characteristics of carbon nanotubes emitters will also be discussed in this article.