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Science 17 November 1995:
Vol. 270. no. 5239, pp. 1179 - 1180
DOI: 10.1126/science.270.5239.1179
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Reports

A Carbon Nanotube Field-Emission Electron Source

Walt A. de Heer (1),  A. Châtelain,  D. Ugarte

A high-intensity electron gun based on field emission from a film of aligned carbon nanotubes has been made. The gun consists of a nanotube film with a 1-millimeter-diameter grid about 20 micrometers above it. Field-emission current densities of about 0.1 milliampere per square centimeter were observed for applied voltages as low as 200 volts, and current densities greater than 100 milliamperes per square centimeter have been realized at 700 volts. The gun is air-stable, easy and inexpensive to fabricate, and functions stably and reliably for long times (short-term fluctuations are on the order of 10 percent). The entire gun is only about 0.2 millimeter thick and can be produced with virtually no restrictions on its area, from less than 1 square millimeter to hundreds of square centimeters, making it suitable for flat panel display applications.


W. A. de Heer and A. Châtelain, Institut de Physique Expérimentale, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, PHB Ecublens, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
D. Ugarte, Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron (CNPq/MCT), Cx. Postal 6192, 13081-970 Campinas SP, Brazil.
(1) To whom correspondence should be addressed.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)