Long Time Field Emission of Pt/MWCNT Hybrid nanowire for Electron Gun

Abstract

An isolated electron gun which could stably work at 500nA for more than 30 hours was proposed. The electron gun has a hybrid structure of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) covered with Platinum tip. The gap between electrodes was adjusted by a nanomanipulation system to control the growth length and working distance inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). About 374nm Platinum nanowire was in-situ growth in the tip of a single MWCNT with a precursor of cyclopentadienyl-trimethyl-platinum (IV) (CpPtMe3) to synthesized an electron gun. The working current stable at 500nA transferred from the tip of electron gun protected by the Platinum, with the working distance about 1 um, working voltage below 150V. It can work at a very low vacuum, it is about three orders of magnitude smaller than the vacuum required for a conventional gun. Moreover, the monitoring of SEM and the field emission characteristics shows that the electron gun has excellent stability during continue working which reached 50hours. The electron gun only consumed about 0.002um per working hour. The experimental result showed that the electron gun has broad application prospects in various field emission devices.