Carbon Buckypaper field emission investigations

Abstract

We investigated Carbon Buckypaper with respect to field emission properties, especially long-term field emission stability and under well-defined stress conditions. The Carbon Buckypaper field emitters showed a threshold field strength of about 1 V μm −1 for an emission current of 1 nA. Field emission current densities of more than 10 mA cm −2 are measured for higher applied field strengths. The main focus of our current investigations is the interaction of field emission and vacuum conditions. In this contribution reproducible stress tests with controlled micro-discharges are presented. At higher emission current densities of about 100 mA cm −2 increased ionization and even luminescence out of the emission zone appears before the micro-discharges start. After arcing with micro-discharges the Carbon Buckypaper field emission has lower emission current density and lower variation range. However, the contribution demonstrates the advantages of Carbon Buckypaper as a large array electron field emitter for cold cathode applications.