场致发射阴极碳纳米管的热化学气相沉积法低温生长

结合丝网印刷和过滤阴极真空电弧法、离子束溅射方法，在普通玻璃衬底上制备催化剂图案，采用低温热化学气相沉积法(CVD)生长碳纳米管/纤维(CNTs)薄膜.研究了不同种类催化剂对CNTs薄膜生长及其场发射的影响.结果表明，在a-C:Co,Ni-Cu和Cu三种催化剂上没有获得明显的CNTs，在外加电场小于4.4V/μm时没有观察到场发射；而在Ni-Fe及Ni-Cr两种催化剂上获得了大量的CNTs，并且表现出良好的场发射性能，开启电场为2.5V/μm，这种热CVD有简单、低温等优点，在CNTs场发射显示器的阴极制备中有潜在的应用价值.     

碳纳米管场致发射中的空间电荷效应

采用微波等离子体化学气相沉积(MWPCVD)方法成功制备以碳纳米管束为单元的场致发射阵列,获得很好的场致发射电流发射特性,在电流密度较大时,发现I-V特性偏离由Fowler-Nordheim公式计算出的结果。采用ElectronBeamSimulation(EBS)软件进行模拟分析发现:在电流密度较低时,I-V特性能很好与F-N公式吻合。但碳纳米管尖端电流密度大于10⁶A/cm²时,碳纳米管尖端处的有效电场强度受空间电荷的影响比较明显,进而对碳纳米管的场致发射特性显现出不可忽略的影响,此时碳纳米管的发射电流密度开始受到空间电荷的限制。     

不同电场下碳纳米管场致发射电流密度研究

本文运用密度泛函理论和金属电子论, 深入研究了碳纳米管场致发射电流的变化规律. 结果显示其发射电流密度取决于体系的态密度、赝能隙、管长和局域电场, 在不同范围电场下的变化规律不同. 在较低电场下, 发射电流密度随电场增强而近似线性增大(对应的宏观电场须小于18 V· μm^-1); 但在较高电场下, 发射电流密度随外电场增加呈现非周期性振荡增长趋势, 碳纳米管表现为电离发射. 本文进一步研究了金属性碳纳米管电导率在不同电场下的变化规律.     

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     

以碳纳米管阵列为场致发射阴极的X射线源研究

碳纳米管具有优异的场发射性能 ,是一种很有前景的电子发射源。实验使用印刷方法将碳纳米管制备于玻璃基底 ,并作为X射线源的阴极。阳极材料为铜 ,其顶端为半球形 (半径为 2mm)。高压电源输出在 0～ 19kV之间可调。射线源工作真空度为 1× 10 -4Pa ,利用流气式正比计数器测到了铜kα 谱线 ,并且进行了连续 4h的运行。实验结果表明X射线源发光稳定 ,碳纳米管可以作X射线源的阴极。最后提出了改进的X射线源结构。     

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     

基于碳纳米管场致发射的电子枪的初步研究

给出了基于碳纳米管场致发射电子枪的初步研究结果. 碳纳米管场致发射试验证明碳纳米管是一种很好的场致发射材料. 试验中, 在极间场强2.7MV/m的情况下得到的电流发射密度为0.5mA/cm².     

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。     

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。     

碳纳米管冷阴极场致发射中栅网特性

利用三维粒子模拟软件对大面积生长无序碳纳米管冷阴级三级结构发射特性进行仿真,对六边形、三角形和正方形3种不同网孔结构栅网下的碳纳米管冷阴极场致发射特性进行研究。通过计算冷阴极表面电场分布及场致发射电子注的通过率,得到不同图形发射效率随网孔尺寸变化的规律。进一步横向对比,得出栅网最佳图形为六边形的结论,其最大电子注通过率为75%。     

Titanium buffer layer for improved field emission of CNT based cold cathode

Carbon nanotube (CNT) based cold cathodes are considered to be the most promising material for fabrication of next generation high-performance flat panel displays and vacuum microelectronic devices. Adhesion of CNTs with the substrate and the contact resistance between them are two of the important issues to be addressed in CNT based field emission (FE) devices. Here in this work, a buffer layer of titanium (Ti) is deposited prior to the catalyst deposition and the growth was carried out using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. There was significant increase in emission current density from 10 mA/cm² to 30 mA/cm² at the field of 4 V/μm by the use of titanium buffer layer due to much less dense growth of CNTs of smaller diameter. Field emission results suggest that the adhesion of the CNTs to the substrate has improved. The titanium buffer layer has also lowered the contact resistance between the CNTs and the substrate because of which a stable emission of 30 mA for a longer duration was obtained.     

Growth of multi-walled CNTs emitters on an oxygen-free copper substrate by chemical-vapor deposition

Field emission properties of carbon nanotubes directly grown on a well-polished oxygen-free copper substrate by chemical-vapor deposition (CVD) were studied. Ni was sputtered on the copper substrate as catalyst, and the reactant gas was acetylene. From scanning electron microscopic and transmission electron microscopic images, the as-grown carbon nanotubes are seen to be bamboo structure with branches. Efficient field emission of CNTs is measured by a diode configuration, and the maximum current is 4.8 mA corresponding to a low electric field of 6.7 V/μm (the emission area is about 3.14 mm²). The diffusion between nickel and copper substrate is found to cause the loss of catalyst based on X-ray diffraction pattern of the surface of the substrate.     

Synthesis and field emission properties of GaN nanowires

Gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires grown on nickel-coated n-type Si (1 0 0) substrates have been synthesized using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the field emission properties of GaN nanowires have been studied. The results show that (1) the grown GaN nanowires, which have diameters in the range of 50-100 nm and lengths of several micrometers, are uniformly distributed on Si substrates. The characteristics of the grown GaN nanowires have been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and through these investigations it was found that the GaN nanowires are of a good crystalline quality (2) When the emission current density is 100 μA/cm², the necessary electric field is an open electric field of around 9.1 V/μm (at room temperature). The field enhancement factor is ∼730. The field emission properties of GaN nanowires films are related both to the surface roughness and the density of the nanowires in the film.     

An improved planar-gate triode with CNTs field emitters by electrophoretic deposition

An improved planar-gate triode with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) field emitters has been successfully fabricated by conventional photolithography, screen printing and electrophoretic deposition (EPD). In this structure, cathode electrodes and ITO arrays linked with gate electrodes were interdigitated and paralleled on the same plane although the gate electrodes and cathode electrodes were isolated by dielectric layer, a so-called improved planar-gate triode structure. An electrophoretic process was developed to selectively deposit CNTs field emitters onto cathode electrodes in the CNTs suspension by an applied voltage between the gate electrodes and cathode electrodes. The optical microscopy and FESEM image showed that the CNTs emitters with the uniform packing density were selectively defined onto the cathode electrodes. In addition, field emission characteristics of an improved planar-gate triode with CNTs field emitters were investigated. The experiment results indicated that the turn-on voltage of this triode structure at current density of 1 μA/cm² was approximately 55 V. The anode current and gate current came to 396 μA and 325 μA, at gate voltage and anode voltage of 100 V and 4000 V, respectively and at the anode-cathode spacing of 2000 μm. The emission image became brighter and the luminous image with dot matrix on the anode plate obviously increased with the increase of the gate voltage. Moreover, the emission current fluctuation was smaller than 5% for 11 h, which indicated that the improved planar-gate triode has a good field emission performance and long lifetime.     

Hydrogen-free spray pyrolysis chemical vapor deposition method for the carbon nanotube growth: Parametric studies

Spray pyrolysis chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in the absence of hydrogen at low carrier gas flow rates has been used for the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A parametric study of the carbon nanotube growth has been conducted by optimizing various parameters such as temperature, injection speed, precursor volume, and catalyst concentration. Experimental observations and characterizations reveal that the growth rate, size and quality of the carbon nanotubes are significantly dependent on the reaction parameters. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy techniques were employed to characterize the morphology, structure and crystallinity of the carbon nanotubes. The synthesis process can be applied to both semiconducting silicon wafer and conducting substrates such as carbon microfibers and stainless steel plates. This approach promises great potential in building various nanodevices with different electron conducting requirements. In addition, the absence of hydrogen as a carrier gas and the relatively low synthesis temperature (typically 750 °C) qualify the spray pyrolysis CVD method as a safe and easy way to scale up the CNT growth, which is applicable in industrial production.     

Influence of DC electric field on the Lennard-Jones potential and phonon vibrations of carbon nanotube on catalyst

Influence of DC electric field on carbon nanotube (CNT) growth in chemical vapor deposition is studied. Investigation of electric field effect in van der Waals interaction shows that increase in DC electric field raises the magnitude of attractive term of the Lennard-Jones potential. By using a theoretical model based on phonon vibrations of CNT on catalyst, it is shown that there is an optimum field for growth. Also it is observed that CNT under optimum electric field is longer than CNT in the absence of field. Finally, the relation between optimum DC electric field and type of catalyst is investigated and for some intervals of electric field, the best catalyst is introduced, which is very useful for experimental researches.     

Light radiation through a transparent cathode plate with single-walled carbon nanotube field emitters

In the conventional carbon nanotube backlight units (CNT-BLUs), light passes through the phosphor-coated anode glass plate, which thus faces closely the thin film transistor (TFT) backplate of a liquid crystal display panel. This configuration makes heat dissipation structurally difficult because light emission and heat generation occur simultaneously at the anode. We propose a novel configuration of a CNT-BLU where the cathode rather than the anode faces the TFT backplate by turning it upside down. In this design, light passes through the transparent cathode glass plate while heating occurs at the anode. We demonstrated a novel design of CNT-BLU by fabricating transparent single-walled CNT field emitters on the cathode and by coating a reflecting metal layer on the anode. This study hopefully provides a clue to solve the anode-heating problem which would be inevitably confronted for high-luminance and large-area CNT-BLUs.     

Water vapor-induced structure modification of vertically-aligned carbon nanotube arrays and successive thin film coating for enhanced field emission properties

Vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes (VCNTs) are used as electron source in various field emission applications owing to its high aspect ratio, chemical inertness, mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. Here, we demonstrate that surface structure modification along with thin film coating enhances the field emission performance, such as turn-on voltage, emission site density, and stability. In the present study, VCNTs with different heights were grown on silicon wafers by thermal chemical vapor deposition followed by the structure modification of VCNTs using capillarity-driven water vapor condensation. We obtained various surface morphologies by varying the water vapor exposure time and heating temperature. In addition, the structure-modified VCNTs surfaces were coated with W and SiO₂ thin films using electron-beam evaporation. It was observed that W-coated VCNTs with modified surface morphology results in the best field emission performance.     

Preparation of carbon nanosheets deposited on carbon nanotubes by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method

Carbon nanosheets were synthesized by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method on carbon nanotubes substrate which was treated by hydrogen plasma. The results showed that the diameters of carbon nanotubes first got thick and then “petal-like” carbon nanosheets were grown on the outer wall of carbon nanotubes. The diameters of carbon nanotubes without and with carbon nanosheets were 100-150 and 300-500 nm, respectively. Raman spectrum indicated the graphite structure of carbon nanotubes/carbon nanosheets. The hydrogen plasma treatment and reaction time greatly affected the growth and density of carbon nanosheets. Based on above results, carbon nanosheets/carbon nanotubes probably have important applications as cold cathode materials and electrode materials.     

Fabrication of a three-dimensional complex carbon nanoneedle from carbon nanowalls

A three-dimensional complex carbon nanoneedle has been fabricated from carbon nanowalls by a direct current plasma chemical vapor deposition system. Sample grown on stainless wire substrate pretreated with the mixing powders of diamond and molybdenum exhibits novel three-dimensional complex nanostructure, the center of which is a carbon nanoneedle, and many carbon nanowalls growing from the needle. The density of unique nanostructure emitters was about 5 × 10⁷/cm². The I-V characteristic addressed an emission current density of 314 mA/cm² at the electric field of 2.5 V/μm.