Field Emission of Carbon Nanotubes and Application in Flat Panel Display Field

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are excellent field emission cold cathode materials. They have a low threshold electric field and a high emission current density which make them attractive for potential application in fiat panel display. In this paper, the Fowler-Nordheims theory and other mechanisms of CNTs field emission were clarified; The effects on field emission characteristics of CNTs by different factors, such as the structure of CNTs (MWNT versus SWNT), the orientation, geometrical structure, density of the CNTs arrays, the interaction of CNTs with the supporting suface and the environmental condition and so on, were discussed in detail; The practical applications of field emission characteristics from CNTs in flat panel display areas were also introduced.