利用场发射电子显微镜研究具有原子分辨的单壁碳纳米管的场发射

利用场发射电子显微镜(FEM)研究了组装在金属钨(W)针尖上的单壁碳纳米管(SWCNTs)的电子发射特性. 透射电子显微镜(TEM)结果表明在W针尖上存在一单壁碳纳米管束. 在适当的实验条件下得到了一组具有原子分辨率的FEM像, 该像可能是从单壁碳纳米管束中突出的一根(16,0)锯齿型单壁碳纳米管开口端的发射形成的. 理论计算了FEM图像放大倍数和分辨率. 当压缩因子β的值设定为β= 1.76时, FEM图像放大倍数的理论计算值与实际测量值相一致. 利用考虑镜像力的Gomer分辨率公式计算了FEM的分辨本领. 在典型电场强度ε = 5.0×10⁷ V/cm)情况下, FEM的分辨本领可以达到0.277 nm, 这接近(16,0)型单壁碳纳米管开口端碳原子沿锯齿边的间距(0.246 nm). 这些进一步支持了实验得到的结果.     

Field emission patterns with atomic resolution of single-walled carbon nanotubes by field emission microscopy

Electron emission properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) assembled on a tungsten tip were investigated using field emission microscopy (FEM). The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrograph confirmed the existence of an SWCNT bundle on the W tip. Under appropriate experimental conditions,a series of FEM patterns with atomic resolution were obtained. These patterns arose possibly from the field emission of the open end of an individual (16,0) SWCNT protruding from the SWCNT bundle. The magnification factor and the resolution under our experimental conditions were calculated theoretically. If the value of the compression factor β was set at β= 1.76, the calculated value of the magnification factor was in agreement with the measured value. The resolving powerof FEM was determined by the resolution equation given by Gomer. The resolutionof 0.277 nm could be achieved under the typical electric field of 5.0×107 V/cm, which was close to the interatomic separation 0.246 nm between carbon atoms along the zigzag edge at the open end for the (16, 0) SWCNT. Consequently, our experimental results were further supported by our theoretical calculation.