Growth of carbon nanotube field emitters on single strand carbon fiber: a linear electron source

The multi-stage effect has been revisited through growing carbon nanotube field emitters on single strand carbon fiber with a thickness of 11 μm. A prepared linear electron source exhibits a turn-on field as low as 0.4 V μm-1 and an extremely high field enhancement factor of 19 300, when compared with those results from reference nanotube emitters grown on flat silicone wafer; 3.0 V μm-1 and 2500, respectively. In addition, we introduce a novel method to grow nanotubes uniformly around the circumference of carbon fibers by using direct resistive heating on the continuously feeding carbon threads. These results open up not only a new path for synthesizing nanocomposites, but also offer an excellent linear electron source for special applications such as backlight units for liquid crystal displays and multi-array x-ray sources.