A filtration-tapingmethod was demonstrated to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT) emitters. This method shows many good features, including high mechanical adhesion, good electrical contact, low temperature, organic-free, low cost, large size, and suitability for various CNT materials and substrates. These good features promise an advanced fieldemission performance with a turn-on fieldof 0.88 V/mm at a current density of 0.1 mA/cm2, a threshold fieldof 1.98 V/mm at a current density of 1 mA/cm2, and a good stability of over 20 h. The filtratio-taping technique is an effective way to realize low-cost, large-size, and high-performance CNT emitters.
Well-aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were successfully synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition using a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) additive onto Al/Fe thin film deposited on Si wafers. Transmission electron microscopy images indicated that the as-grown carbon products were thin MWCNTs with small outer diameters of less than 10 nm. H2S plays a key role in synthesizing thin MWCNTs with a large inside hollow core. The well-aligned thin MWCNTs showed a low turn-on voltage of about 1.1 V/μm at a current density of 0.1 μA/cm2 and a high emission current of about 1.0 mA/cm2 at a bias field of 2.3 V/μm. We suggest a possible growth mechanism for the well-aligned thin MWCNTs with a large inside hollow core.