Field Emission From Carbon Nanotubes: A Comparative Study

We report here on the extensive characterization of carbon nanotube electron field emitters. We studied the emission behaviour of singlewall, closed and opened are-discharge multiwall, and catalytically grown multiwall nanotubes, as single emitters and in film form. The nanotube field emitters showed both low operating voltages and good current stability, but significant differences were observed between the different types of nanotubes. We conclude that the nanotubes should be multiwalled and have closed, well graphitized tips to obtain good performances as well as long emitter lifetimes.