Laser beam patterning of carbon nanotube arrays for the work of electron field emitters in technical vacuum

Abstract

Laser beam patterning is used to prepare field emission cathodes from the arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Field emission properties of the cathodes are measured in a technical vacuum of ~10–2 Pa. A stable current of ~500 µA from a 1 cm2 cathode is preserved after a long-term testing for three hours under applied voltage of ~1.1 V/µm. A degradation mechanism of CNT cathodes is considered and reasons of increased cathode stability are proposed.