Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were chemically attached to an n-type silicon (100) substrate (n-Si) by exposing the surface to a nanotube-containing suspension for attachment times varying from 2 to 72 h. The SWNTs were imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealing a high density of vert...

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Main Authors: Shearer, C., Yu, J., O’Donnell, Kane, Thomsen, L., Dastoor, P., Quinton, J., Shapter, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: The Royal Society of Chemistry 2008
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17798
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author Shearer, C.
Yu, J.
O’Donnell, Kane
Thomsen, L.
Dastoor, P.
Quinton, J.
Shapter, J.
author_facet Shearer, C.
Yu, J.
O’Donnell, Kane
Thomsen, L.
Dastoor, P.
Quinton, J.
Shapter, J.
author_sort Shearer, C.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were chemically attached to an n-type silicon (100) substrate (n-Si) by exposing the surface to a nanotube-containing suspension for attachment times varying from 2 to 72 h. The SWNTs were imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealing a high density of vertically aligned SWNT bundles. Cyclic voltammetry experiments demonstrated that the n-type character of the substrate was maintained after the chemical attachment process. The SWNT/n-Si surfaces were found to field emit with a turn-on field ranging from 1.37–1.64 V µm-1. From the Fowler–Nordheim (F–N) plots the field enhancement factor, ß, was found to vary between ~5000–7000 depending upon attachment time, which is consistent with changes in the sharpness of the SWNT tips as shown by AFM. The robustness of the field emitters was tested by maintaining a constant current and measuring the change in voltage required. The structures were found to have excellent stability over several days. The prospect for chemically attached SWNT arrays in field emission displays is discussed.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:22:54Z
publishDate 2008
publisher The Royal Society of Chemistry
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-177982017-09-13T15:44:14Z Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon Shearer, C. Yu, J. O’Donnell, Kane Thomsen, L. Dastoor, P. Quinton, J. Shapter, J. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were chemically attached to an n-type silicon (100) substrate (n-Si) by exposing the surface to a nanotube-containing suspension for attachment times varying from 2 to 72 h. The SWNTs were imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealing a high density of vertically aligned SWNT bundles. Cyclic voltammetry experiments demonstrated that the n-type character of the substrate was maintained after the chemical attachment process. The SWNT/n-Si surfaces were found to field emit with a turn-on field ranging from 1.37–1.64 V µm-1. From the Fowler–Nordheim (F–N) plots the field enhancement factor, ß, was found to vary between ~5000–7000 depending upon attachment time, which is consistent with changes in the sharpness of the SWNT tips as shown by AFM. The robustness of the field emitters was tested by maintaining a constant current and measuring the change in voltage required. The structures were found to have excellent stability over several days. The prospect for chemically attached SWNT arrays in field emission displays is discussed. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17798 10.1039/b811546j The Royal Society of Chemistry restricted
spellingShingle Shearer, C.
Yu, J.
O’Donnell, Kane
Thomsen, L.
Dastoor, P.
Quinton, J.
Shapter, J.
Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon
title Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon
title_full Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon
title_fullStr Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon
title_full_unstemmed Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon
title_short Highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon
title_sort highly resilient field emission from aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays chemically attached to n-type silicon
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17798