Influence of the deposition conditions on the field emission properties ofpatterned nitrogenated carbon nanotube films

The electron field emission of patterned films of nitrogenated carbon nanot ubes is shown to be decisively influenced by the deposition conditions. The growth was carried out by decomposing methane in a nitrogen/ammonia atmosp here using hot filament chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The diameter of th e produced tubes depended critically on the distance between substrate and filament, and the field emission properties (applied fields needed for elec tron emission, field amplification factor) could be directly correlated to the film morphology. This demonstrates the possibility of tuning the field emission properties of such film emitters. For arrays of nanotubes thinner than 50 nm, the onset of field emission was observed at similar to4 V/mum, and a current density of 10 mA/cm(2) was obtained for an applied field of 7 .2 V/mu. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.