Field Emission Properties of Carbon Nanotubes and Its Application to Flat Panel Display

摘要

We have investigated field emission properties from an individual carbon nanotube protruded approx 45#mu#m from a tungsten needle tip. The I-V characteristics of the field emitter show no emitter-collector gap dependence at a gap less than 310#mu#m. This experimental result is explained by an analysis under a consideration of the nonuniform electric field near the tip of the nanotube. The tip radius of 2.7nm, which is obtained from the analysis, is consistent with the average tip radius of nanotubes. The field emission device for a flat panel display consisting of the well perpendicularly aligned carbon nanotube array is fabricated by the catalytic chemical vapor deposition using C_2H_2 as source gas. Patterned emission device is easily obtained by patterning the catalyst. The threshold voltage for the field emission decreases from 400V to 150V by the thermal treatment in air at 700 deg C for 8min. We also demonstrate that the diode type display consisting of a phosphor coated electrode and the nanotube device emits strong and uniform luminescence.