Field Emission from Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Aligned on a Gold Plate using Self-Assembly Monolayer

Field emission from single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) aligned on a patterned gold surface is reported. The SWNTs emitters were prepared at room temperature by a self-assembly monolayer technique. SWNTs were cut into sub-micron length by sonication in an acidic solution. Cut SWNTs were attached on the gold surface by the reaction between the thiol groups and the gold surface. The field emission measurement showed that the turn-on field was 4.8 $V/{\mu}m$ at the emission current density of 10 ${\mu}A/cm^2$. The current density was 0.5 $mA/cm^2$ at 6.6 $V/{\mu}m$. This approach provides a novel route for fabricating CNT-based field emission displays.