Stable Field Emitters for a Miniature X-ray Tube Using Carbon Nanotube Drop Drying on a Flat Metal Tip.
Stable carbon nanotube (CNT) field emitters for a vacuum-sealed miniature X-ray tube have been fabricated. The field emitters with a uniform CNT coating are prepared by a simple drop drying of a CNT mixture solution that is composed of chemically modified multi-walled CNTs, silver nanoparticles, and isopropyl alcohol on flat tungsten tips. A highly thermal- and electrical-conductive silver layer strongly attaches CNTs to the tungsten tips. Consequently, the field emitters exhibit good electron emission stability: continuous electron emission of around 100 μA at 2.3 V/μm has stably lasted over 40 h even at non-high vacuum ambient (~10-3 Pa).
Heo
Sunghwan
S
Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 373-1 Guseong, Yuseong, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea. socho@kaist.ac.kr.
Ihsan
Aamir
A
Yoo
Seunghwa
S
Ali
Ghafar
G
Cho
Sungoh
S