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Applied Sciences
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Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures
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Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanotechnology and Applied Nanosciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2018) | Viewed by 34877

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Antonio Di Bartolomeo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics “E.R. Caianiello”, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: optical and electrical properties of nanostructured materials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and 2D materials; van der Waals heterostructures and Schottky junctions; field-effect transistors; non-volatile memories; solar cells; photodetectors; field emission devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The extraction of electrons from a conducting material by an external electric field, known as field emission (FE), is an interesting quantum–mechanical phenomenon, which has many practical applications. High-current and long-lifetime electron sources based on FE, so-called cold-cathodes, have been exploited in high-power and microwave vacuum electronic devices, flat panel displays, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, electron-beam lithography, electric propulsion systems, etc.

Ideal field emitters have a high current at low extraction field for low voltage applications as well as robustness and thermal stability for steady and long-lifetime emission. The lowering of the threshold voltage for FE is achieved using materials with low-workfunction, as well as materials with very rough surface or terminated in sharp tips to benefit from the local field amplification. The field enhancement is due to the convergence of the electric field lines on the sharp features of the conducting surface. Hence, materials naturally shaped or artificially patterned to have protrusions with high aspect ratio (such as nanotubes and nanowires, graphene and other 2D materials, or nanoparticles and nanotips) are suitable for FE. Furthermore, robustness against high current flow requires materials with high electrical and thermal conductivity.  

The availability in the past two decades of new nanostructured materials and improved nano-patterning techniques has considerably boosted the research in FE materials and devices. A variety of novel cold-cathodes based on new nanostructured or nanofabricated materials has been added to the traditional Spindt-type field emitters, based on microfabricated Mo tips, and to the Si microtips developed in the early 1970s. These new cold cathodes include carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanodiamonds, semiconducting or metallic nanoparticles and nanowires, nanocones, etc.

This Special Issue, “Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures” of Applied Sciences includes both fundamental studies and applications. It aims at covering all recent experimental and theoretical work on electron field emission from carbon-based and other nanostructured materials.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Di Bartolomeo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Field emission (FE)
  • Cold cathode
  • Field enhancement
  • Fowler-Nordheim tunneling
  • Nanotips
  • Vacuum electronics
  • FE displays
  • FE x-ray generation
  • FE electron microscopy
  • FE electron beam lithography
  • FE electric propulsion

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 7850 KiB  
Article
Controllable Synthesis of Special Reed-Leaf-Like Carbon Nanostructures Using Copper Containing Catalytic Pyrolysis for High-Performance Field Emission
by Chen Zhao, Zhejuan Zhang, Jun Guo, Qiang Hu, Zhuo Sun and Xianqing Piao
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 440; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9030440 - 28 Jan 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2196
Abstract
Special reed-leaf-like carbon nanostructures have been realized by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) under the combined action of copper containing catalytic pyrolysis and ammonia (NH3) gas. The nucleation and growth mechanisms of CNLs based on growth parameters are discussed. The Raman [...] Read more.
Special reed-leaf-like carbon nanostructures have been realized by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) under the combined action of copper containing catalytic pyrolysis and ammonia (NH3) gas. The nucleation and growth mechanisms of CNLs based on growth parameters are discussed. The Raman spectra of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), CNLs and CNT-CNL composites were measured and found to be strongly influenced by the type of gas. Field emission (FE) properties of CNL-CNT composites were observed with a lower turn-on electric field of 0.73 V/µm, and a higher current density of 18.0 mA/cm2 at an electric field of 2.65 V/µm, which are superior to those of CNTs and flower-like CNLs. This is because there are more field emitters in CNLs inter-planted in CNTs. We consider that the unique FE stability of CNTs and defects in CNLs play a synergetic role on the improved FE properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures)
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12 pages, 3396 KiB  
Article
Temperature Comparison of Looped and Vertical Carbon Nanotube Fibers during Field Emission
by Peng Zhang, Jeongho Park, Steven B. Fairchild, Nathaniel P. Lockwood, Yue Ying Lau, John Ferguson and Tyson Back
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(7), 1175; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8071175 - 19 Jul 2018
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 4336
Abstract
Carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber-based emitters have shown great potential to deliver stable, high current beams for various potential applications. Because of joule heating, CNT field emitters are heated to high temperatures during field emission. It is important to improve the thermal management of [...] Read more.
Carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber-based emitters have shown great potential to deliver stable, high current beams for various potential applications. Because of joule heating, CNT field emitters are heated to high temperatures during field emission. It is important to improve the thermal management of emitters to increase their reliability and prevent premature failure. This paper compares the field emission characteristics and the temperature distribution of a new configuration of a looped CNT fiber emitter with a traditional single vertical CNT fiber emitter. It is found that the maximum temperature of the looped fiber emitter (~300 °C) is significantly reduced compared to that of the vertical fiber (~600 °C) at the same emission current of 3 mA. The experimentally measured temperature distribution is compared with a recent theory on joule heating of a one-dimensional conductor. This study provides new insights into the design of high performance field emitters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures)
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2502 KiB  
Article
Current-Fluctuation Mechanism of Field Emitters Using Metallic Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with High Crystallinity
by Norihiro Shimoi and Kazuyuki Tohji
Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(12), 1322; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app7121322 - 19 Dec 2017
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4103
Abstract
Field emitters can be used as a cathode electrode in a cathodoluminescence device, and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that are synthesized by arc discharge are expected to exhibit good field emission (FE) properties. However, a cathodoluminescence device that uses field emitters radiates rays [...] Read more.
Field emitters can be used as a cathode electrode in a cathodoluminescence device, and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that are synthesized by arc discharge are expected to exhibit good field emission (FE) properties. However, a cathodoluminescence device that uses field emitters radiates rays whose intensity considerably fluctuates at a low frequency, and the radiant fluctuation is caused by FE current fluctuation. To solve this problem, is very important to obtain a stable output for field emitters in a cathodoluminescence device. The authors consider that the electron-emission fluctuation is caused by Fowler–Nordheim electron tunneling and that the electrons in the Fowler–Nordheim regime pass through an inelastic potential barrier. We attempted to develop a theoretical model to analyze the power spectrum of the FE current fluctuation using metallic SWCNTs as field emitters, owing to their electrical conductivity by determining their FE properties. Field emitters that use metallic SWCNTs with high crystallinity were successfully developed to achieve a fluctuating FE current from field emitters at a low frequency by employing inelastic electron tunneling. This paper is the first report of the successful development of an inelastic-electron-tunneling model with a Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation for metallic SWCNTs based on the evaluation of FE properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures)
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Review

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17 pages, 3310 KiB  
Review
The Growth Methods and Field Emission Studies of Low-Dimensional Boron-Based Nanostructures
by Haibo Gan, Tong Zhang, Zekun Guo, Haojian Lin, Zijuan Li, Huanjun Chen, Jun Chen and Fei Liu
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(5), 1019; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9051019 - 12 Mar 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3253
Abstract
Based on the morphology characteristics, low-dimensional (LD) nanostructures with high aspect ratio can be usually divided into nanowire, nanocone, nanotube, nanorod, nanoribbon, nanobelt and so on. Among numerous LD nanostructures, boron-based nanostructures attracted much interest in recent years because they have high melting-point, [...] Read more.
Based on the morphology characteristics, low-dimensional (LD) nanostructures with high aspect ratio can be usually divided into nanowire, nanocone, nanotube, nanorod, nanoribbon, nanobelt and so on. Among numerous LD nanostructures, boron-based nanostructures attracted much interest in recent years because they have high melting-point, large electric and thermal conductivity, and low work function. Compared to traditional thermal emission, field emission (FE) has notable advantages, such as lower power dissipation, longer working life, room-temperature operation, higher brightness and faster switching speed. Most studies reveal they have lower turn-on and threshold fields as well as high current density, which are believed as ideal cold cathode nanomaterials. In this review, we will firstly introduce the growth methods of LD boron-based nanostructures (boron monoelement and rare-earth metal hexaboride). Then, we will discuss their FE properties and applications. At last, the conclusions and outlook will be summarized based on the above studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures)
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15 pages, 2643 KiB  
Review
A Review Paper on “Graphene Field Emission for Electron Microscopy”
by Xiuyuan Shao and Anjam Khursheed
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(6), 868; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8060868 - 25 May 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6087
Abstract
Although good field emission from graphene has been demonstrated from a wide variety of different microfabricated structures, very few of them can be used to improve the design of cold field emitters for electron microscopy applications. Most of them consist of densely packed [...] Read more.
Although good field emission from graphene has been demonstrated from a wide variety of different microfabricated structures, very few of them can be used to improve the design of cold field emitters for electron microscopy applications. Most of them consist of densely packed nano-emitters, which produce a large array of defocused overlapping electron beams, and therefore cannot be subsequently focused down to a single nanometer electron probe. This paper reviews the kind of single-tip cathode structures suitable in cold field emission guns for instruments such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope or scanning transmission electron microscopy, and reviews progress in fabricating them from graphene-based materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures)
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21 pages, 2421 KiB  
Review
Field Emission from Carbon Nanostructures
by Filippo Giubileo, Antonio Di Bartolomeo, Laura Iemmo, Giuseppe Luongo and Francesca Urban
Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(4), 526; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8040526 - 29 Mar 2018
Cited by 133 | Viewed by 13870
Abstract
Field emission electron sources in vacuum electronics are largely considered to achieve faster response, higher efficiency and lower energy consumption in comparison with conventional thermionic emitters. Carbon nanotubes had a leading role in renewing attention to field emission technologies in the early 1990s, [...] Read more.
Field emission electron sources in vacuum electronics are largely considered to achieve faster response, higher efficiency and lower energy consumption in comparison with conventional thermionic emitters. Carbon nanotubes had a leading role in renewing attention to field emission technologies in the early 1990s, due to their exceptional electron emitting properties enabled by their large aspect ratio, high electrical conductivity, and thermal and chemical stability. In the last decade, the search for improved emitters has been extended to several carbon nanostructures, comprising carbon nanotubes, either individual or films, diamond structures, graphitic materials, graphene, etc. Here, we review the main results in the development of carbon-based field emitters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Field Emission from Graphene and other Nanostructures)
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