Effects of Pulsewidth and Area of Carbon Nanotube Films on Their Pulsed Field Emission Characteristics

Carbon nanotube (CNT) film has great potential in the application as a cold cathode in vacuum power electron devices. Pulse field emission of CNT film is investigated to achieve large current and current density. A maximum current of 16 mA is obtained from a 0.02-cm
²
CNT film with a current density of 800 mA/cm
²
. The pulsewidth and area of CNT film have strong effects on field emission characteristics of CNT film, such as total current, current density, and current stability. The reason for this is discussed in detail. The results are useful for the design of the large current and current density CNT cold cathodes.