Fabrication of carbon nanotube bundles and measurement of field electron emission properties

Abstract

Carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles are synthesized on rough polycrystalline ceramic wafers by pyrolyzing ferrocene/melamine mixtures through a three-step process in a single stage furnace in an Ar atmosphere. The CNTs are multi-walled and have outer diameters from 10 to 90 nm and lengths from 20 to 100 microns. These CNTs display a bamboo-like structure with open graphite layers and defects at the outer surfaces. Field electron emission (FEE) measurements show that the turn-on electrical field is 2.9 V/μm and the field enhancement factor is 2700.