Investigation of Electron Transport Across Vertically Grown CNTs Using Combination of Proximity Field Emission Microscopy and Scanning Probe Image Processing Techniques
Source abstract
Abstract
Field emission from nanostructured films is known to be dominated by only small number of localized spots which varies with the voltage, electric field and heat treatment. It is important to develop processing methods which will produce stable and uniform emitting sites. In this paper we report a novel approach which involves analysis of Proximity Field Emission Microscopic (PFEM) images using Scanning Probe Image Processing technique. Vertically aligned carbon nanotube emitters have been deposited on tungsten foil by water assisted chemical vapor deposition. Prior to the field electron emission studies, these films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). AFM images of the samples show bristle like structure, the size of bristle varying from 80 to 300 nm. The topography images were found to exhibit strong correlation with current images. Current–Voltage (I–V) measurements both from Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Conducting-AFM mode suggest that electron transport mechanism in imaging vertically grown CNTs is ballistic rather than usual tunneling or field emission with a junction resistance of ~10 kΩ. It was found that I–V curves for field emission mode in PFEM geometry vary initially with number of I–V cycles until reproducible I–V curves are obtained. Even for reasonably stable I–V behavior the number of spots was found to increase with the voltage leading to a modified Fowler–Nordheim (F–N) behavior. A plot of ln(I/V3) versus 1/V was found to be linear. Current versus time data exhibit large fluctuation with the power spectral density obeying 1/f2 law. It is suggested that an analogue of F–N equation of the form ln(I/Vα) versus 1/V may be used for the analysis of field emission data, where α may depend on nanostructure configuration and can be determined from the dependence of emitting spots on the voltage.
Source: openaire · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Carbon Nanotubes in Composites · Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications · Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (33)
Show source-provided references
1. de Heer, W.A., Chatelain, A., Ugarte, D.: A carbon nanotube field-emission electron source. Science 270, 1179 (1995)10.1126/science.270.5239.1179 ↗
2. Saito, Y., Hamaguchi, K., Hata, K., Uchida, K., Tasaka, Y., Ikazaki, F., Yumura, M., Kasuya, A., Nishina, Y.: Conical beams from open nanotubes. Nature 389, 554 (1997)10.1038/39221 ↗
3. Chhowalla, M., Ducati, C., Rupesinghe, N.L., Teo, K.B.K., Amaratunga, G.A.J.: Field emission from short and stubby vertically aligned carbon nanotubes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 2079 (2001)10.1063/1.1406557 ↗
4. Choi, W.B., Chung, D.S., Kang, J.H., Kim, H.Y., Jin, Y.W., Han, I.T., Lee, Y.H., Lee, J.E., Lee, N.S., Park, G.S., Kim, J.M.: Fully sealed, high-brightness carbon-nanotube field-emission display. Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 3129 (1999)10.1063/1.125253 ↗
5. Lee, N.S., Chung, D.S., Han, I.T., Kang, J.H., Choi, Y.S., Kim, H.Y., Park, S.H., Jin, Y.W., Yi, W.K., Yun, M.J., Jung, J.E., Lee, C.J., You, J.H., You, S.H., Jo, S.H., Lee, C.G., Kim, J.M.: Application of carbon nanotubes to field emission displays. Diam. Relat. Mater. 10, 265–270 (2001)10.1016/S0925-9635(00)00478-7 ↗
6. Yue, G.Z., Qiu, Q., Gao, B., Cheng, Y., Zhang, J., Shimoda, H., Chang, S., Lu, J.P., Zhou, O.: Generation of continuous and pulsed diagnostic imaging X-ray radiation using a carbon-nanotube-based field-emission cathode. Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 355 (2002)10.1063/1.1492305 ↗
7. de Jonge, N., Lamy, Y., Schoots, K., Oosterkamp, T.H.: High brightness electron beam from a multi-walled carbon nanotube. Nature 420, 393 (2002)10.1038/nature01233 ↗
8. Chen, J., Liang, X.H., Deng, S.Z., Xu, N.S.: Flat-panel luminescent lamp using carbon nanotube cathodes. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B21, 1727 (2003)10.1116/1.1580118 ↗
9. Teo, K.B.K., Minoux, E., Hudanski, L., Peauger, F., Schnell, J.P., Gangloff, L., Legagneux, P., Dieumegard, D., Amaratunga, G.A.J., Milne, W.I.: Microwave devices: carbon nanotubes as cold cathodes. Nature 437, 968 (2005)10.1038/437968a ↗
10. Yabushita, R., Hata, K., Sato, H., Saito, Y.: Development of compact field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with multiwalled carbon nanotube bundle cathode. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B25, 640 (2007)10.1116/1.2429662 ↗
11. Rinzler, A.G., Hafner, J.H., Nikolaev, P., Lou, L., Kim, S.G., Tomanek, D., Nordlander, P., Colbert, D.T., Smalley, R.E.: Unraveling nanotubes: field emission from an atomic wire. Science 269, 1550 (1995)10.1126/science.269.5230.1550 ↗
12. Wong, T.-H., Gupta, M.C., Hernandez-Garcia, C.: Nanosecond laser pulse-induced electron emission from multiwall carbon nanotube film. Nanotechnology 18, 135705 (2007)10.1088/0957-4484/18/13/135705 ↗
13. Watts, P.C.P., Lyth, S.M., Mendoza, E., Silva, S.R.P.: Polymer supported carbon nanotube arrays for field emission and sensor devices. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 103113 (2006)10.1063/1.2345615 ↗
14. Bonard, J.M., Weiss, N., Kind, H., Stöckli, T., Forró, L., Kern, K., Chátelain, A.: Tuning the field emission properties of patterned carbon nanotube films. Adv. Mater. 13, 184 (2001)10.1002/1521-4095(200102)13:3<184::AID-ADMA184>3.0.CO;2-I ↗
15. Rao, A.M., Jacques, D., Haddon, R.C.: In situ-grown carbon nanotube array with excellent field emission characteristics. Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 3813 (2000)10.1063/1.126790 ↗
16. Liu, Y.M., Fan, S.S.: Enhancement of field emission properties of cyanoacrylate–carbon nanotube arrays by laser treatment. Nanotechnology 15, 1033 (2004)10.1088/0957-4484/15/8/030 ↗
17. Hata, K., Futaba, D.N., Mizuno, K., Namai, T., Yumura, M., Iijima, S.: Water-assisted highly efficient synthesis of impurity-free singlewalled carbon nanotubes. Science 306, 1362 (2004)10.1126/science.1104962 ↗
18. Zeng, B.Q., Xiong, G.Y., Chen, S., Wang, W.Z., Wang, D.Z., Ren, Z.F.: Enhancement of field emission of aligned carbon nanotubes by thermal oxidation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 223119 (2006)10.1063/1.2399342 ↗
19. Zhong, G.F., Iwasaki, T., Kawarada, H.: Semi-quantitative study on the fabrication of densely packed and vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes. Carbon 44, 2009 (2006)10.1016/j.carbon.2006.01.027 ↗
20. Chen, G., Shin, D.H., Iwasaki, T., Kawarada, H., Lee, C.J.: Enhanced field emission properties of vertically aligned double-walled carbon nanotube arrays. Nanotechnology 19, 415703 (2008)10.1088/0957-4484/19/41/415703 ↗
21. Nilsson, L., Groening, O., Groening, P., Kuettel, O., Schlapbach, L.: Characterization of thin film electron emitters by scanning anode field emission microscopy. J. Appl. Phys. 90, 768 (2001)10.1063/1.1379559 ↗
22. Patole, S.P., Alegaonkar, P.S., Shin, H.C., Yoo, J.B.: Alignment and wall control of ultra long carbon nanotubes in water assisted chemical vapour deposition. J. Phys. D: Appl Phys. 41, 155311 (2008)10.1088/0022-3727/41/15/155311 ↗
23. Patole, S.P., Park, J.H., Lee, T.Y., Lee, J.H., Patole, A.S., Yoo, J.B.: Growth interruption studies on vertically aligned 2–3 wall carbon nanotubes by water assisted chemical vapor deposition. Appl. Phys. Letts. 93, 114101 (2008)10.1063/1.2976328 ↗
24. http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/14132
25. Late, D.J., Date, K.S., More, M.A., Misra, P., Singh, B.N., Kukreja, L.M., Dharmadhikari, C.V., Joag, D.S.: Enhanced field emission from LaB6 thin films with nanoprotrusions grown by pulsed laser deposition on Zr foil. Nanotechnology 19, 265605 (2008)10.1088/0957-4484/19/26/265605 ↗
26. Saito, R., Dresselhaus, G., Dresselhaus, M.S.: Physical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes, pp. 142–145. World Scientific, Singapore (1998)10.1142/p080 ↗
27. Fowler, R.H., Nordheim, L.W.: Electron Emission in Intense Electric Fields. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A. 119, 173 (1928)10.1098/rspa.1928.0091 ↗
28. Kolekar, S., Patole, S.P., Patil, S., Yoo, J.B., Dharmadhikari, C.V.: Study of thermal-field emission properties and investigation of temperature dependent noise in the field emission current from vertical carbon nanotube emitters. Surf. Sci. 664, 76 (2017)10.1016/j.susc.2017.05.002 ↗
29. Edgcombe, C.J., Valdre, U.: Experimental and computational study of field emission characteristics from amorphous carbon single nanotips grown by carbon contamination. I. Experiments and computation. Philos. Mag. B82, 987 (2002)
30. Kolekar, S.K., Patole, S.P., Alegaonkar, P.S., Yoo, J.B., Dhamadhikari, C.V.: A comparative study of thermionic emission from vertically grown carbon nanotubes and tungsten cathodes. Appl. Surf. Sci. 257, 10306–10310 (2011)10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.06.051 ↗
31. Gonzalez, R.C., Woods, R.E.: Digital Image Processing, (3rd Edition), Prentice Hall, Prentice, ISBN-10: 9780131687288 (2007)
32. Gesley, M., Swanson, L.: Thermal-field emission flicker (1/f) noise and diffusive equilibrium density fluctuations. Phys. Rev. A. 37, 4879 (1988)10.1103/PhysRevA.37.4879 ↗
33. Dharmadhikari, C.V., Khairnar, R.S., Joag, D.S.: Noise in field-induced electron emission from graphite composite: spectral density and autocorrelation investigations. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 25, 125 (1992)10.1088/0022-3727/25/1/018 ↗