An Experimental Study and Modeling of the Field Emission Properties of an Isolated Individual Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube
Abstract
The stable chemical structure, low turn-on fields, and high current densities of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) make this class of material highly desirable for cold field emission applications. Carbon nanotube films are being developed as electron beam sources in commercial products such as flat panel field emission displays, field emission lamps, and X-ray tubes. The isolated individual CNT has been proposed for use as an advanced cold field emitter for electron microscope applications. One of the many advantages of the CNT in comparison to conventional emitters is its low electron beam energy spread, which is important for improving microscope resolution. This paper reports experimental data for individual multi-walled CNT (MWNT) emitters. For comparison, a thermodynamics-based variational method was used to obtain a closed-form expression for the radial electric field of a spherical cathode. Theoretical data generated from Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) device simulation software is also reported. A fundamental understanding of the individual CNT emitter has important ramifications for electron microscope applications. Developing theoretical models for nanotube field emission properties using a thermodynamics-based variational approach [1] as well as TCAD [2] would provide design rules for optimizing carbon nanotube film emitters for various applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADP022665
Entities
People
- Bryan Ribaya
- Cattien V. Nguyen
- Darrell Niemann
- Mahmud Rahman
- Norman Gunther
Organizations
- Santa Clara University