Temperature Comparison of Looped and Vertical Carbon Nanotube Fibers during Field Emission
Abstract
Carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber-based emitters have shown great potential to deliver stable, high current beams for various potential applications. Because of joule heating, CNT field emitters are heated to high temperatures during field emission. It is important to improve the thermal management of emitters to increase their reliability and prevent premature failure. This paper compares the field emission characteristics and the temperature distribution of a new configuration of a looped CNT fiber emitter with a traditional single vertical CNT fiber emitter. It is found that the maximum temperature of the looped fiber emitter (~300 °C) is significantly reduced compared to that of the vertical fiber (~600 °C) at the same emission current of 3 mA. The experimentally measured temperature distribution is compared with a recent theory on joule heating of a one-dimensional conductor. This study provides new insights into the design of high performance field emitters.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jul 19, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.3390/app8071175
Entities
People
- Jeongho Park
- John Ferguson
- Nathaniel Lockwood
- Peng Zhang
- Steven B. Fairchild
- Tyson Back
- Y. Y. Lau
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research