Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T10:33:46.742Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fabrication of Patterned Carbon Nanotube Field Emission Surfaces on SiC Substrates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2013

Michael Pochet ,
Jonathon Campbell ,
Ronald Coutu ,
Steven Fairchild  and
John Boeckl
Michael Pochet*
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433, USA
Jonathon Campbell
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433, USA
Ronald Coutu
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433, USA
Steven Fairchild
Affiliation:
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, AFRL/RXPS, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433, USA
John Boeckl
Affiliation:
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, AFRL/RXPS, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433, USA
*
*Email: michael.pochet@afit.edu
Get access

Abstract

This work focuses on the patterning of SiC substrates prior to carbon nanotube (CNT) formation using the surface decomposition growth method for the purpose of improving the field emission capabilities of the resultant CNT film. The thermal decomposition of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates is an established approach to create highly dense arrays of vertically aligned CNTs. The attractiveness of this growth approach is that the CNTs form without the aid of a catalyst metal, yielding potentially defect free CNTs ideal for various applications. Due to the high temperature anneals (1400-1700oC) and moderate vacuum conditions (10−2 – 10−5 Torr) necessary for the thermal decomposition process to initiate on the SiC substrate, patterning CNT outcroppings ideal for enhancing the surface’s field emission properties is more difficult when compared to metal catalyst based chemical vapor deposition growth processes on silicon substrates. The intent of the SiC patterning is to reduce field screening effects between neighboring emission sites during field emission while maintaining a high emission site density. Specifically, the SiC substrate is etched to form μm scale pillars on the SiC surface. Experimental findings show that SiC substrates patterned with μm scale pillars can be decomposed to form CNT topped field emission sites, yielding a field emission substrate that outperforms a non-patterned SiC/CNT film. A turn-on electric field of 4.0 V/μm was measured.

Keywords

field emissionnanostructurescanning electron microscopy (SEM)
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1505: Symposium W – Carbon Nanomaterials , 2013 , mrsf12-1505-w03-42
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Heer, W. A. d., Chatelain, A., and Ugarte, D., “A carbon nanotube field-emission electron source, ” Science, 270, 1179–1181 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, W., Bower, C., Zhou, O., Kochanski, G., and Jun, S., “Large current density from carbon nanotube field emitters, ” Applied Physics Letters, 75, 873–875 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonard, J., Kind, H., Stöckli, T., and Nilsson, L., “Field emission from carbon nanotubes: The first five years, ” Solid-State Electronics, 45, 893–914 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, Z., Bai, X., Wang, E., and Wang, Z., “Field emission of individual carbon nanotube with in situ tip image and real work function, ” Applied Physics Letters, 87, 163106–163106-3 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manohara, H., Bronikowski, M., Hoenk, , et al. ., “High-current-density Field Emitters Based on Arrays of Carbon Nanotube Bundles, ” J. of Vac Science & Tech B: Microelec & Nano Struc, 23, 157–162 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dresselhaus, M. S., Dresselhaus, G., and Avouris, P., Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure Properties and Applications, Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimes, C. A., Dickey, E. C., et al. . “Effect of purification of the electrical conductivity and complex permittivity of multiwall carbon nanotubes, ” Journal of Applied Physics, 90(8), 4134–4137(2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kusunoki, M., Shibata, J., Rokkaku, M., and Hirayama, T., “Aligned Carbon Nanotube Film Self-Organized on a SiC Wafer,” Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 2, 37, L605–L606 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boeckl, J., Mitchel, W. C., Lu, W., and Rigueur, J., “Structural and Electrical Characteristics of Carbon Nanotubes Formed on Silicon Carbide Substrates by Surface Decomposition, ” Materials Science Forum Vols., 527–529, 1579–1582 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cambaz, Z. G., Yushin, G., Osswald, S., Mochalin, V., and Gogotsi, Y., “Noncatalytic Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene and Graphite on SiC,” Carbon, (6), 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yih, P. H., Saxena, V., and Steckl, A. J., “A Review of SiC Reactive Ion Etching in Fluorinated Plasmas,” Phys. Stat. Sol. B, 202(1), 605 – 642 ( 1997).3.0.CO;2-Y>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nilsson, L., Groening, O., Emmenegger, C., Kuettel, O., Schaller, , et al. . “Scanning field emission from patterned carbon nanotube films, ” Applied Physics Letters, 76, 2071–2073 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, W., Boeckl, J. J., and Mitchel, W. C., “A critical review of growth of low-dimensional carbon nanostructures on SiC: impact of growth environment, ” J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 374004, 9 pp (2010).Google Scholar