Modeling of the behavior of random carbon nanotubes during field emission

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as promising electron emitters in recent years because of their low threshold electric field for emission and a high emission current density. These features make them attractive for many technological applications such as cold cathode electron sources for a variety of vacuum electronic devices. In this paper, we model the behavior of randomly oriented CNTs during field emission under the influence of external electric field.