Effect of Relaxation and Cooling Process on Field Electron Emission from Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Embedded in Glass

Abstract

Several experiments examined the properties of Field Electron Emission (FEE) from Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs), where extensive studies were conducted to improve the emission current density (stability and repeatability) and emission current image concentration. In this study, the effect of relaxation and cooling processes on FEE from SWCNTs embedded in glass has been investigated to keep the ongoing investigation for factors that positively affect the FEE process. It has been found that the relaxation process can ameliorate the FEE, where the “switch-on” phenomenon occurs at lower applied voltage after performing the relaxation process. Also, the saturation region extends down to lower applied voltage values after the relaxation process. In case of the effect of cooling process on FEE, the “switch-on” phenomenon occurs at higher applied voltage values after applying the cooling process. Also, the saturation region extends down to higher applied voltage values and the threshold value has been found to significantly being lowered as the result of the cooling process, where the emission current disappeared at applied voltage values of ~20 V. In terms of the effects of the cooling process on emission current images, the emission current image is distributed throughout the screen. Furthermore, it has been experiencing a massive emission current fluctuation after performing the cooling process.

Keywords: Field Electron Emission, Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Relaxation and
Cooling Processes.