碳纳米管场致电子发射新机制

基于对长达 1μm的 (5 ,5 )碳纳米管的量子力学计算 ,作者发现使碳纳米管具有优异场致电子发射特性的因素除了人们预期的尖端场增强之外 ,电荷在纳米管尖端的积累造成有效功函数 (真空势垒 )的非线性下降也起了非常重要的作用 .对外加电场Vappl=10— 14V/ μm下的碳纳米管进行了计算 ,得到与实验结果相近的发射电流     

栅网结构碳纳米管冷阴极电子光学系统的设计

基于碳纳米管冷阴极实验测试结果,采用三维粒子模拟软件对大面积碳纳米管冷阴极的场致发射特性进行了仿真,研究了栅网结构不同尺寸对碳纳米管冷阴极场致发射特性及电子注通过率的影响,并在此基础上设计出面积压缩比为18,输出电流密度为14.9 A/cm2的带状注电子枪。为进一步研制碳纳米管冷阴极电子光学系统和相关微波、毫米波电真空辐射源器件提供了技术基础。     

碳纳米管冷阴极脉冲发射特性及仿真模型研究

针对碳纳米管场致发射冷阴极在微波、毫米波电真空辐射源器件中的应用需求,采用2μs,20 kV的脉冲高压对碳纳米管场致发射冷阴极的脉冲发射特性进行了实验研究.通过改变阴阳极间距,对碳纳米管冷阴极发射电流特性及发生脉冲高压打火后的碳纳米管冷阴极发射特性进行了测试研究.在直径为4 mm的圆形平面碳纳米管冷阴极上获得最大发射电流16 mA,电流密度为127 mA/cm~2.以实验测试数据为基础,结合粒子模拟软件建立碳纳米管冷阴极场致发射仿真模型,给出了该仿真模型的相关参数,为下一步设计研制碳纳米管冷阴极电子光学系统及相关辐射源器件奠定基础.     

二极管间隙距离对场致发射过程中空间电荷效应的影响

在强电场条件下,由阴极通过场致发射产生的电子具有很强的空间电荷效应,因此真空二极管的空间电荷限制电流是设计高功率微波源等强流电子束器件时需要考虑的重要参数.场致发射电流密度只和阴极材料、阴极表面电场等有关,而空间电荷效应则会受二极管电压、间隙距离等因素的影响.为研究二极管间隙距离对场致发射过程中空间电荷效应的影响,建立了由场致发射阴极构成的一维平板真空二极管物理模型,利用第一性原理的粒子模拟方法,研究了二极管间隙距离和外加电压等参数变化时的阴极表面电场随时间的演变特性,得到了阴极表面稳态电场和二极管间隙距离之间的关系.结果表明,场致发射过程开始后,阴极表面电场先有个振荡过程,随后趋于稳定;在同一外加电场条件下,间隙距离越长,稳态电场的绝对值越小,且达到稳态所需的时间也越长;间隙距离越短,当阴极表面电场达到稳定状态时,二极管间隙区的电场分布变化越剧烈.     

3维楔形阴极场致发射模型

分析了场致发射的物理机理,在3维Yee网格模型的基础上导出并实现了场致发射的发射条件,并引入Pade网格算法加密尖端网格。以一个楔形阴极场致发射模型为例得到了场致发射的伏安特性曲线,并且在高电压时得到了3/2次方的空间电荷限制流。同时为了解决粒子数与网格的巨大引起的计算量大的问题,引入了消息传递机制并行算法,得到3.0以上的并行加速比。     

高能球磨对碳纳米管形貌及场致发射显示特性的影响

用化学气相沉积法制备了碳纳米管,进行了不同时间的球磨处理。用扫描电镜、拉曼光谱对其形貌和结构进行了表征。对不同球磨条件下的碳纳米管制备成阴极,进行了场致发射特性的测试。结果表明,高能球磨会对碳纳米管的形貌、结构及场致发射性能有明显的影响。球磨时间为0．5～1h时,可以使碳纳半管变短而均匀,且场致发射电性能与未处理时相近,即有低的阈值电场和高的发射电流密度,从而使发射时在阳极上产生的荧光点密度大大增加,发光均匀。但研磨时间过长会改变碳纳半管结构,使其非晶化或石墨化,导致其场致发射性能和显示效果变差。     

碳纳米管阴极强流脉冲发射特性实验

 在2 MeV直线感应加速器注入器平台上研究了采用浸渍涂覆方法制备的大面积碳纳米管阴极发射体的强流发射特性。研究结果表明：在脉冲高压电场下,碳纳米管阴极具有强流电子束发射能力,发射电流密度较大;碳纳米管阴极发射电子过程为场致等离子体发射。实验过程中,阴极端取样电阻环收集到的最大发射电流达350 A,阳极端法拉第筒收集的发射电流为167 A,最大阴极发射电流密度为19.4 A/cm²。     

场致发射的温度效应对微波管爆炸电子发射的影响

为研究场致发射的温度效应对微波管中爆炸电子发射过程的影响,在对比分析低温条件下的场致发射电流密度Fowler-Nordheim（FN）和一般的电子发射电流密度积分公式的基础上,利用细长圆柱形微凸起模型,重点考虑焦耳加热和热传导两个因素,编程计算得到了微凸起内部的温度分布和不同位置处温度随时间的变化。结果表明:场致发射的温度效应是一个重要影响因素,考虑温度对场致发射的影响后,微凸起内部各点的温度随时间呈非线性增长,且增长速率越来越大;在微波电场强度较弱时,若不考虑场致发射的温度效应而直接用FN公式表示的电流密度代入计算,会使爆炸发射延迟时间变短;当微波电场很强时,温度效应对爆炸发射延迟时间的影响则较小。     

碳纳米管在大气压环境中的场致发射特性

研究了在大气压环境下,单根碳纳米管作为场致发射阴极,与阳极间距为100—200 nm时的场致发射特性.对比了碳纳米管在不同阴阳极间距和不同气体环境中的场致发射电流和噪声的特点. 关键词： 碳纳米管 场致发射 大气压     

锥顶碳纳米管的结构稳定性与场致发射性能

运用密度泛函理论研究了锥顶碳纳米管的结构稳定性与电子场致发射性能.结果表明:在外电场作用下,该体系的结构稳定性明显优于碳纳米锥体、C₃₀半球封口的碳纳米管,且电子发射性能与锥角大小、锥顶构型密切相关,特别是锥角38.9°及棱脊型顶部的cone₁@(6,6)综合性能最优,用其作为场致发射源的阴极时可显著提高发射电流密度并延长器件的使用寿命. 关键词： 锥顶碳纳米管 电子场致发射 结构稳定性 密度泛函理论     

Integration of ZnO nanowires in gated field emitter arrays for large-area vacuum microelectronics applications

Addressable field emitter arrays (FEAs) have important applications in vacuum electronic devices. However, it is important to integrate nanowire emitters into a gated structure without influencing the device structure and maintain the excellent field emission properties of nanowire emitters in the FEAs after the fabrication process. In this study, gate-structure ZnO nanowire FEAs were fabricated by a microfabrication process. The structure combines a planar gate and an under-gate, which is compatible with the preparation of ZnO nanowire emitters. The effect of electrode materials on the field emission properties of ZnO nanowires was studied using a diode structure, and it was found that ZnO nanowire pads on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrode showed better field emission performance compared with chromium (Cr) electrode. In addition, effective emission current modulation by the gate voltage was achieved and the addressing capability was demonstrated by integrating the ZnO nanowire FEAs in a vacuum-encapsulated field emission display. The reported technique could be a promising route to achieve large area addressable FEAs.     

Effect of screening on the emissivity of field electron emitters based on carbon nanotubes

The effect of screening on the emissivity of a field cathode built around a carbon nanotube array is analyzed. A numerical method of solving the Laplace equation for intricate-shape cathodes is developed that makes it possible to relate the amplification factor to the nanotube spacing in arrays containing as many as 225 emitters. Mutual screening of the tubes, which shows up in the dependence of the field amplification factor on the average emitter spacing, is studied numerically. The optimal spacing between the tubes that provides an emission current maximum density at a given applied voltage is determined. The role of edge effects in carbon nanotube screening is established.     

Modification of the tungsten carbide field emitter surface to localize the electron and ion emission

Using field emission microscopy, the shape modification of the tungsten carbide emitter simultaneously exposed to high electric fields and high temperatures is studied. It is shown that in this case the emitter shape changes observed on the emitter surface are the same as those observed in the pure metal emitters. The possibility to grow a single nanoprotrusion on the emitter surface which can emit charged particles with stability similar to that for the carbon material emitters is demonstrated. The values of the emission current, current density, emission angle, and reduced brightness are comparable to those for the carbon nanotube emitters, and the advantage of this single nanoprotrusion is its complete reproducibility and capability to emit not only electrons but also ions.     

Field emission characteristic of screen-printed carbon nanotube cathode

The fabrication of carbon nanotube emitters with excellent emission properties is described. The multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method were purified with oxidation method and mixed with organic binding pastes and then screen-printed on glass substrates with ITO film. We applied anode voltage gradually to refine the emission behavior of the emitter by cleaning the top surface of screen-printed carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The density of the carbon nanotubes is about 2.5×10⁸/cm². Diode field emission experiments were performed in dynamic vacuum system to study the emission current, the emission uniformity, etc. Bright and stable character emission images were obtained in the diode structure and the emission current could approach 1 mA/cm².     

Field emission from carbon nanotubes: perspectives for applications and clues to the emission mechanism

We report on the extensive characterization of carbon nanotube electron field emitters. We studied the emission behavior of single-wall, closed and opened arc-discharge multi-wall, and catalytically grown multi-wall nanotubes, as single emitters and in film form. The nanotube field emitters show excellent field emission properties, but significant differences were observed between the different types of nanotubes. To obtain good performances as well as long emitter lifetimes, the nanotubes should be multi-walled and have closed, well-ordered tips. Complementary results such as energy distribution and luminescence induced by the field emission give further precious indications on the field emission mechanism. The large field amplification factor, arising from the small radius of curvature of the nanotube tips, is partly responsible for the good emission characteristics. Additional evidence however shows that the density of states at the tip is non-metallic, appearing in the form of localized states with well-defined energy levels. Received: 15 May 1999 / Accepted: 18 May 1999 / Published online: 29 July 1999     

Field emission properties of carbon nanotube film using a spray method

We fabricated carbon nanotube (CNT) emitters by a spray method using a CNT suspension with ethanol. Indium with a low melting pointing metal or indium tin oxide (ITO) was deposited on the glass substrate. The CNTs were sprayed on these layers and thermally annealed. The sprayed CNTs on an ITO were obtained a high emission current density, field enhancement factor, and a uniform emission pattern than the sprayed CNTs on an ITO layer. We found that the sprayed emitters on the indium layer had good field emission characteristics because of the strong adherence between the metal layer and CNTs.     

Processing of vacuum microelectronic devices by focused ion and electron beams

Localized physical and chemical reactions induced by focused ion and electron beams, i.e. dual beams, have been used to fabricate field emitters (FEs) and their arrays, field-emitter arrays (FEAs), without masking and annealing processes. Issues arising from beam processing such as beam-induced damage and contamination were eliminated to provide FEAs with low leakage current. Quick prototyping and repairing processes of FEs and FEAs using dual-beam processing have been demonstrated. Nb- or Au-gated Pt FEAs have been fabricated using dual beams. The fabricated FEAs showed a turn-on voltage of 40 V for field emission with a typical emission current of about 1 μA/tip. Received: 21 August 2002 / Accepted: 21 August 2002 / Published online: 12 February 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +81-6/6850-6662, E-mail: takai@rcem.osaka-u.ac.jp     

Mechanism of field electron emission from carbon nanotubes

Field electron emission (FE) is a quantum tunneling process in which electrons are injected from materials (usually metals) into a vacuum under the influence of an applied electric field. In order to obtain usable electron current, the conventional way is to increase the local field at the surface of an emitter. For a plane metal emitter with a typical work function of 5 eV, an applied field of over 1 000 V/μm is needed to obtain a significant current. The high working field (and/or the voltage between the electrodes) has been the bottleneck for many applications of the FE technique. Since the 1960s, enormous effort has been devoted to reduce the working macroscopic field (voltage). A widely adopted idea is to sharpen the emitters to get a large surface field enhancement. The materials of emitters should have good electronic conductivity, high melting points, good chemical inertness, and high mechanical stiffness. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are built with such needed properties. As a quasi-one-dimensional material, the CNT is expected to have a large surface field enhancement factor. The experiments have proved the excellent FE performance of CNTs. The turn-on field (the macroscopic field for obtaining a density of 10 μA/cm²) of CNT based emitters can be as low as 1 V/μm. However, this turn-on field is too good to be explained by conventional theory. There are other observations, such as the non-linear Fowler-Nordheim plot and multi-peaks field emission energy distribution spectra, indicating that the field enhancement is not the only story in the FE of CNTs. Since the discovery of CNTs, people have employed more serious quantum mechanical methods, including the electronic band theory, tight-binding theory, scattering theory and density function theory, to investigate FE of CNTs. A few theoretical models have been developed at the same time. The multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) should be assembled with a sharp metal needle of nano-scale radius, for which the FE mechanism is more or less clear. Although MWCNTs are more common in present FE applications, the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are more interesting in the theoretical point of view since the SWCNTs have unique atomic structures and electronic properties. It would be very interesting if people can predict the behavior of the well-defined SWCNTs quantitatively (for MWCNTs, this is currently impossible). The FE as a tunneling process is sensitive to the apex-vacuum potential barrier of CNTs. On the other hand, the barrier could be significantly altered by the redistribution of excessive charges in the micrometer long SWCNTs, which have only one layer of carbon atoms. Therefore, the conventional theories based upon the hypothesis of fixed potential (work function) would not be valid in this quasi-one-dimensional system. In this review, we shall focus on the mechanism that would be responsible for the superior field emission characteristics of CNTs. We shall introduce a multi-scale simulation algorithm that deals with the entire carbon nanotube as well as the substrate as a whole. The simulation for (5, 5) capped SWCNTs with lengths in the order of micrometers is given as an example. The results show that the field dependence of the apex-vacuum electron potential barrier of a long carbon nanotube is a more pronounced effect, besides the local field enhancement phenomenon.     

Effect of micro and nanoparticle inorganic fillers on the field emission characteristics of photosensitive carbon nanotube pastes

We successfully fabricated field emitter arrays of carbon nanotube (CNT) dots of 10 μm diameter with excellent field emission properties by using photosensitive CNT paste. The CNT paste was investigated in terms of morphologies, current-voltage properties, and luminous uniformities by varying the mixing ratios of micro and nanoparticle inorganic fillers and the amount of CNTs added into the paste. The 3:1 mixing of micro and nanoparticle fillers and the addition of 5% CNTs in the paste brought about the best field emission characteristics of dot-patterned CNT field emitter arrays.     

Optimization of the parameters of a carbon nanotube-based field-emission cathode

A procedure for optimizing a field-emission cathode based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is developed. An array of identical equidistant vertical CNTs is considered. The optimization procedure takes into account the effect of screening of an electric field by neighboring nanotubes by solving a Laplace equation and the thermal instability of nanotubes, which limits the emission current density of a nanotube, by solving a heat conduction equation. The relation between the emission current and the applied voltage is described by the Fowler-Nordheim relationship containing the CNT tip temperature as a parameter. Upon optimization, the optimum distance between CNTs that ensures the maximum emission current density is calculated. The calculation results demonstrate that this parameter depends substantially on both the applied voltage and the nanotube geometry. These dependences are weakly sensitive to the choice of the transport coefficients (thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity) of nanotubes.