title: Polymer-nanotube composite mats with improved field emission performance and stability.
abstract: The results of electron field emission from single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) mats deposited on different composite films of SWCNTs and poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) semiconducting polymer are presented. Three different structures were tested: (a) dense and sparse SWCNT mats on n+ -Si; (b) SWCNT mats on composite films with different SWCNT-P3OT ratios; (c) composite films with different SWCNT-P3OT ratios on n+ -Si. The experiments show that there is a critical SWCNT-P3OT concentration in which the field emission stability of SWCNT mats is remarkably improved with a small reduction in the emission threshold compared to the optimum pristine SWCNT film. The contribution of the composite film morphology as well as the role of polymer-nanotube interaction on the emission performance are evaluated. The physical mechanism behind the stability of composite field emitters is also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, 711 10 Crete, Greece. stratak@iesl.forth.gr
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stratakis
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kymakis
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spanakis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tzanetakis
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koudoumas