Abstract
High density carbon nanotube field emitter arrays (CNT-FEAs) with various multilayer cathode structures have been fabricated on Si utilizing conventional integrated circuit technology and microwave-heated chemical vapor deposition process. The CNT-FEAs were configured as triode emitters with 1-μm thermal SiO2 as the insulator and 400-nm Cr as the gate, and compared per the resulting morphologies, Raman spectra, and field emission characteristics. It was found that the NiCrSi cathode structure is the best fit for selective growth of CNTs in gate holes. In particular, a CNT-FEA fabricated on Ni (60 nm) Cr (80 nm) Si cathode structure has yielded excellent emission characteristics, with low turn-on and threshold fields, being, respectively, at 0.45 and 3.7 Vμm. This triode CNT device also exhibited a uniform image of high brightness (∼1800 cd m2) on a green-phosphor coated idium-tin-oxide glass and a relatively stable emission current, being tested at a constant anode voltage of 1000 and 900 V, respectively. © 2005 American Vacuum Society.