title: Hot electron field emission via individually transistor-ballasted carbon nanotube arrays.
abstract: We present electronically controlled field emission characteristics of arrays of individually ballasted carbon nanotubes synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on silicon-on-insulator substrates. By adjusting the source-drain potential we have demonstrated the ability to controllable limit the emission current density by more than 1 order of magnitude. Dynamic control over both the turn-on electric field and field enhancement factor have been noted. A hot electron model is presented. The ballasted nanotubes are populated with hot electrons due to the highly crystalline Si channel and the high local electric field at the nanotube base. This positively shifts the Fermi level and results in a broad energy distribution about this mean, compared to the narrow spread, lower energy thermalized electron population in standard metallic emitters. The proposed vertically aligned carbon nanotube field-emitting electron source offers a viable platform for X-ray emitters and displays applications that require accurate and highly stable control over the emission characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Division, University of Cambridge, 9 JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0FA, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Sai G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Shivareddy
authors.forename: Jon S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Barnard
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Baoping
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pribat
authors.forename: Gehan A J
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Amaratunga
authors.forename: William I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Milne