Enhancement of Field Emission Properties of Carbon Nano tubes by ECR-Plasma Treatment

We report a significant improvement in electron field emission property of carbon nano tubes film by using an electron cyclotron resonance plasma treatment. Our research results reveal that plasma treatment can modify the surface morphology and enhance the field emission characteristics of carbon nano tubes. Raman spectra indicate that plasma treated CNTs sample has lesser defects. Before plasma treatment, low current density of 6.5 mA/cm² at 3.0 V/μm and at a high turn-on field of 2.4 V/μm was observed. ECR plasma treated CNTs showed a high current density of 20.0 mA/cm² at 3.0 V/μm and at a low of 1.6 V/μm. The calculated enhancement factors are 694 and 8721 for ECR-plasma untreated and treated carbon nano tubes, respectively. We found an increase in the enhancement factor and emission current after the ECR-plasma treatment. This may be attributed to creation of geometrical features through the removal of amorphous carbon and catalyst particles.