High Field Emission Performance of Carbon Nanotube Bundle Field Emitters

Abstract

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have become one of the best candidates for field emitters in recent years. Their ultra-high aspect ratio and good electrical conductivity give them excellent field emission (FE) performance. However, the quick degradation of CNT field emitters leads to their short lifetime, which limits their performance in high current and long duty cycle applications. There have been many attempts to improve the lifetime of CNT field emitters through various fabrication methods, but they all have some limitations such as uneven length. In this study, a new method is proposed to increase the lifetime of CNT emitter and improve the performance, by binding individual CNT together to form a more uniform CNT bundle arrays with lower electrical resistance. This type of CNT field emitter has proved to have a great potential in applications with high current and long continuous operating time.