Ultrashort single-wall carbon nanotubes reveal field-emission coulomb blockade and highest electron-source brightness.
We present here well-defined Coulomb staircases using an original field-emission experiment on several individual in situ-grown single-wall carbon nanotubes. A unique in situ process was applied nine times to progressively shorten one single-wall carbon nanotube down to ≃10  nm, which increased the oscillations periods from 5.5 to 80 V, the temperature for observable Coulomb staircase to 1100 K and the currents to 1.8  μA. This process led to the brightest electron source ever reported [9×1011  A/(str m2 V)].
ILM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 et CNRS, UMR 5586, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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Pascale-Hamri
ILM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 et CNRS, UMR 5586, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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Perisanu
ILM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 et CNRS, UMR 5586, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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Derouet
ILM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 et CNRS, UMR 5586, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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Journet
ILM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 et CNRS, UMR 5586, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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Vincent
ILM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 et CNRS, UMR 5586, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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Ayari
ILM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 et CNRS, UMR 5586, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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Purcell