Abstract
An electron field emitter based on low-temperature-cofirable-ceramics (LTCC) technology was demonstrated. While the carbon nanotube/silver (CNT/Ag) thick films incorporated with Ag-nanopowders can be turned-on at 0.9 V/μm, attaining 40 mA/cm 2 emission current density for 2.2 V/μm applied field, the LTCC-emitters made of these thick films require higher field to turn-on the field emission (E 0 = 1.4 V/μm), which is ascribed to the large electrical resistance of via-connectors. A solid circular light spot can be obtained by using a ring-shaped CNT/Ag thick film emitter, indicating that the electrons were mainly emitted from the inner and outer rims of the ring-emitters. The turn-on field of the LTCC-emitters increases with the maximum applied voltage (the driven-in voltage) experienced by the LTCC-emitters, but the J-E characteristics are quite stable under the voltage cycling as long as the voltage does not exceed the driven-in voltage. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.