Field emission from carbon nanotubes: a comparative study between the carbon nanotubes synthesized by thermal and microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition

The carbon nanotubes (CNTs) samples are grown using the microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) and thermal chemical vapor deposition (THCVD) technique on Fe catalyst deposited by thermal evaporation on silicon substrate. The field emission measurements of the samples have been made in a diode assembly at room temperature in a vacuum chamber with a base pressure of 10-7 mbar. The turn-on fields of CNT films grown by THCVD and MPCVD techniques are 0.6 and 1.0 V/mum, respectively.© IEE