1. Growth of Aligned Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes and the Effect of Adsorbates on the Field Emission Properties
- Author
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Kbk Teo, Pierre Legagneux, Manishkumar Chhowalla, G. Pirio, Gehan A. J. Amaratunga, Vu Thien Binh, William I. Milne, S. B. Lansley, and V. Semet
- Subjects
Nanotube ,Materials science ,Mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes ,Nanotechnology ,Carbon nanotube ,Chemical vapor deposition ,Condensed Matter::Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect ,law.invention ,Optical properties of carbon nanotubes ,Condensed Matter::Materials Science ,Field electron emission ,Chemical physics ,law ,Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition ,Electric field - Abstract
In attempt to decipher the field emission characteristics of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), we have developed a fabrication method based on plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) to provide utmost control of the nanotube structure such as their alignment, individual position, diameter, length and morphology. We investigated the field emission properties of these nanotubes to elucidate the effect of adsorbates on the nanotubes. Our results show that although the adsorbates cause an apparent lowering of the required turn on voltage/field of the nanotubes, the adsorbates undesirably cause a saturation of the current, large temporal fluctuations in the current, and also a deviation of the emission characteristics from Fowler‐Nordheim like emission. The adsorbates are easily removed by extracting an emission current of 1 uA per nanotube or using a high applied electric field (∼25V/um).
- Published
- 2003