Effect of plasma parameters on growth and field emission properties of spherical carbon nanotube tip

Abstract

The effect of plasma parameters (e.g., electron density and temperature, ion density and temperature, neutral atom density and temperature) on the growth (without a catalyst), structure, and field emission properties of a spherical carbon nanotube (CNT) tip has been theoretically investigated. A theoretical model of charge neutrality, including the kinetics of electrons, positively charged ions, and neutral atoms and the energy balance of the various species in plasma, has been developed. Numerical calculations of the radius of the spherical CNT tip for different CNT number densities and plasma parameters have been carried out for the typical glow discharge plasma parameters. It is found that upon an increase in the CNT number density and plasma parameters, the radius of the spherical CNT tip decreases, and consequently the field emission factor for the spherical CNT tip increases. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.