Computer simulation of the field emission properties of closed-capped and open-ended multi-walled carbon nanotubes for flat panel displays

摘要

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are commonly used as field emitters for flat panel displays. The geometrical structure of the emitting regions of the MWCNTs, that is, the sharp circular edge of the open-ended MWCNT and the small tips of the closed-capped MWCNT, has great influence upon the field emission properties of the nanotubes. A particle-in-cell computer simulation code MAGIC[1] was used in this work to investigate the field emission characteristics of both open-ended and closed-caped MWCNTs. The equipotential lines, electron trajectories, emission patterns, and I-V characteristics can all be obtained from the simulation. The influence of various geometrical parameters on the field emission properties of MWCNTs, such as the radius of curvature of the tips for the closed tubes, the edge sharpness, the inner and outer diameters of the open tubes, and the distance between neighboring tubes are particularly studied.