title: Quantum-mechanical investigation of field-emission mechanism of a micrometer-long single-walled carbon nanotube.
abstract: A quantum-mechanical simulation is carried out to investigate the charge distribution and electrostatic potential along a 1 microm long (5,5) single-walled carbon nanotube under realistic field-emission experimental conditions. A single layer of carbon atoms is found sufficient to shield most of the electric field except at the tip where strong field penetration occurs. The penetration leads to a nonlinear decrease of potential barrier for emission, which is equally responsible for the low threshold voltage besides the well-known geometrical field enhancement factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: GuanHua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhibing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shaozhi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Ningsheng
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xu