Field Emission Microscopy of Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Field emission of electrons from multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been investigated by field emission microscopy (FEM) in an ultra-high vacuum chamber. An MWCNT whose tip is capped by curved graphite layers gives a FEM pattern consisting of 6 bright pentagons when the surface of the nanotube tip is clean. Even in the ultra-high vacuum with a base pressure of about 10⁻¹⁰ Torr, residual gas molecules, coming from the nanotube shank through field-enhanced migration or directly from the gas phase by polarization forces, adsorb on the nanotube tips. The adsorbed molecules reside preferentially on the pentagonal sites, giving bright spots in the FEM pattern. A flash heating of the emitter at about 1300 K allows the molecules to desorb, and the nanotube emitter recovers the original clean surfaces. The adsorption and desorption of gas molecules are responsible for step-wise increases and decreases in the emission current, respectively. Energy spectra of electrons from a clean pentagon and through an adsorbed molecule are measured individually. For a clean surface a subpeak is observed at about 0.5 eV lower than the main peak, while the subpeak disappeared for the adsorbed surface.