Computer simulation of the field emission properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes for flat panel displays

Abstract

Summary form only given, as follows. It has been shown that carbon nanotubes exhibit good electron field emission properties, therefore, have potential application in field emission displays as electron field emitters. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are most commonly used as field emitters for flat panel displays. The geometrical structure of the emitting regions of the two kinds of MWCNT - open-ended MWCNTs with sharp circular edges and closed-capped MWCNTs with small tips - has great influence upon the field emission properties of the nanotubes. A particle-in-cell computer simulation code MAGIC was used in this work to investigate the differences in the field emission characteristics between open-ended and closed-capped MWCNTs. Simulation results of the equipotential lines, electron trajectories, emission patterns, and I-V characteristics will be presented. The influence of various geometrical parameters on the field emission properties of MWCNTs, such as the inner and outer diameters of the open tubes, the radius of curvature of the tips for the closed tubes, will also be studied.