L. R. Baylor, V. I. Merkulov, E. D. Ellis, M. A. Guillorn, D. H.
Lowndes, A. V. Melechko, M. L. Simpson, and J. H. Whealton
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-8071
(Received 5 September 2001; accepted 6 January 2002)
Field emission from isolated individual vertically aligned carbon
nanocones (VACNCs) has been measured using a small-diameter moveable
probe. The probe was scanned parallel to the sample plane to locate the
VACNCs, and perpendicular to the sample plane to measure the emission
turn-on electric field of each VACNC. Individual VACNCs can be good
field emitters. The emission threshold field depends on the geometric
aspect ratio (height/tip radius) of the VACNC and is lowest when a sharp
tip is present. VACNCs exposed to a reactive ion etch process
demonstrate a lowered emission threshold field while maintaining a
similar aspect ratio. Individual VACNCs can have low emission
thresholds, carry high current densities, and have long emission
lifetime. This makes them very promising for various field emission
applications for which deterministic placement of the emitter with
submicron accuracy is needed. ©2002 American Institute of Physics.
This article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics, 2002. 91(7): p. 4602-4606. and may be found at (URL/link for published article abstract).
Copyright (2005) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics