FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FIELD EMISSION DEVICES BASED ON SINGLE VERTICALLY ALIGNED CARBON NANOFIBERS

摘要

We report on the fabrication and operation of integrated gated cathode and triode cold cathode electron sources using a single vertically aligned carbon nanofiber as the field emission element. These devices display FE characteristics inherent to other nanostructured graphitic carbon cathode materials including high emitted current density, environmental stability and reasonably low threshold voltages for the initiation of electron emission. During operation of both types of devices, less than ?1% of the total emitted current is collected at the gate electrode, implying that the emitted beam emerges from a point near the center of the device structure, presumably the fiber tip. The operational behavior of these devices indicates that they may be ideal for microfabricated cold cathode applications that require the production of a highly focussed electron beam, such as sources for electron microscopy or electron beam lithography.