Fabrication of Field Emitter Arrays of Carbon Nanotubes Aligned on Patterned Substrates using Self-Assembly Monolayer

Abstract

AbstractField emissions from the singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) attached on various patterned substrates such as silicon wafer and polymer film, are reported. SWNTs were cut into sub-micron length by sonication in an acidic solution. The SWNT emitters were aligned on Au surface at room temperature by self-assembly monolayer technique. The field emission measurements in a silicon wafer and a polymer film showed that the turn-on fields were 2.8 V/ νm and 3.9 V/ νm at the emission current density of 10 μA/cm2, respectively. The current densities were 0.9 mA/cm2 and 1.6 mA/cm2 at 6.0 V/ νm. This room temperature process is suitable for the fabrication of flexible field emission devices with carbon nanotubes.