Enhanced Field Emission Properties from Carbon Nanotube Emitters Grown on NiCr Alloy Surfaces with Grain Boundary Effect

摘要

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are known to have exceptional field emission properties such as low turn-on voltage and high current density. Nilsson et al. reported that field emission properties depend highly on the density of the CNT films. The CNTs must have low density in order to minimize electrostatic field screening from neighboring nanotubes. At the same time, the CNT films must have a high number of emitting sites to achieve a desirable current density. Recently, the direct growth of CNTs on metal alloys containing Ni, Cr, and Fe has been shown to be an attractive alternative for fabrication of CNT emitters without requiring a metal catalyst deposition step. Herein, we report the field emission properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) films grown on polished smooth 80/20 and 70/30 NiCr surfaces by thermal chemical vapor deposition. We show that 80/20 NiCr surfaces prohibit growth of MWNTs at the grain boundaries resulting in a lower turn-on field in comparison to a continuous MWNT film obtained with 70/30 NiCr substrates.