FIELD-EMISSION PROPERTIES OF MULTIWALLED CARBON NANOTUBES

Field emission properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, in the form of both single tips and films, have been investigated. Nanotubes comp are very favourably with other field emission sources, as they show lo w operating voltages and produce high current densities. Lifetimes in excess of 100 h in continuous operation at constant applied voltage we re observed. Our measurements suggest that the good field emission pro perties are largely due to small tip size and to a nonmetallic density of states at the tip. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.