Field emission from nanotube bundle emitters at low fields

Journal Article · Sun Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1997 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.119146· OSTI ID:529990

Wang, Q H; Corrigan, T D; Dai, J Y; Chang, R P ^[1]; Krauss, A R ^[2]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States)
2. Materials Science and Chemistry Divisions, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)

The fabrication of nanotube field emitters with an onset field as low as 0.8 V/{mu}m is described and the low-field electron emission mechanism is discussed. These emitters are made using nanotube cathode deposit with the addition of epoxy resin. The preferred orientation of nanotubes in nanotube bundles of the deposit is preserved. The nanotube tips are sharpened by exposing the nanotube bundle surface to a microwave oxygen plasma. The local-field enhancement factor is estimated to be 8000 by using the Fowler{endash}Nordheim equation. The low onset field is attributed to the well-distributed, highly orientated sharp tips at the sample surface. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 529990
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 70; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
66 PHYSICS
CARBON
CATHODES
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
ELECTRON SOURCES
FIELD EMISSION
FOWLER-NORDHEIM THEORY
FULLERENES