Abstract
ABSTRACTCarbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been investigated as field emission electron sources for a number of applications such as x-ray source and microwave power amplifier. These applications often require that nanotubes provide a stable field emission at a high emission current. In this paper, we investigated the emission stability of CNTs as functions of hydrogen post-treatment and duty factor. The experimental results show that the hydrogen plasma treatment and a reduced duty cycle from 100% to 35% can noticeably improve the emission stability of CNTs at a high current value of 4 mA. Our study also shows that emission induced anode heating at high duty factor and high emission current level degrades vacuum level and thus the emission stability of CNTs.
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