Field electron emission cathodes were constructed from knitted fabrics comprised entirely of carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers. The fabrics consisted of a top layer array of ∼2 mm high looped structures and a bottom layer that was 1 mm thick with a flat underlying surface. Field emission (FE) experiments were performed on 25.4 mm diameter CNT fabric cathodes in both direct current (DC) and pulsed voltage (PV) modes, and the results were compared to those obtained from a CNT film cathode. The DC measurements were performed at a maximum voltage of 1.5 kV. The CNT fabric cathode emitted 20 mA, which was an 8× increase over the emission current from the CNT film cathode. The DC results were analyzed using the corrected form of the Fowler–Nordheim FE theory initially developed by Murphy and Good, which allows for the determination of the formal emission area and effective gap-field enhancement factor. The PV experiments resulted in Ampere level emission currents from both CNT fabric and CNT film cathodes. For a 25 kV, 500 ns voltage pulse, the CNT fabric cathode emitted 4 A, which was 2× more current than the CNT film cathode. Scanning electron microscopy imaging after PV testing revealed that the fibers remained intact after >5000 pulses. These results indicate that knitted CNT fabrics offer a promising approach for developing large area, conformable, robust FE cathodes for vacuum electronic devices.
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7 March 2023
Research Article|
March 01 2023
Field emission cathodes made from knitted carbon nanotube fiber fabrics
Steven B. Fairchild
;
Steven B. Fairchild
a)
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Writing – original draft)
1
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio 45433, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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Chelsea E. Amanatides;
Chelsea E. Amanatides
(Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft)
2
Center for Functional Fabrics, Drexel University
, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 USA
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Thiago A. de Assis
;
Thiago A. de Assis
(Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
3
Institute of Physics, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Campus Universitário da Federação
, Rua Barão de Jeremoabo s/n, 40170-115, Salvador, BA, Brazil
4
Institute of Physics, Fluminense Federal University
, Avenida Litorânea s/n, 24210-340, Niterói, RJ, Brazil
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Paul T. Murray;
Paul T. Murray
(Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft)
1
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio 45433, USA
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Dmitri Tsentalovich
;
Dmitri Tsentalovich
(Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
5
DexMat
, 5000 Gulf Fwy #146, Houston, Texas 77023, USA
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Jeffrey L. Ellis
;
Jeffrey L. Ellis
(Investigation, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing)
6
Edison Welding Institute
, 1250 Arthur E. Adams Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43221, USA
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Salvador Portillo
;
Salvador Portillo
(Funding acquisition, Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
7
Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico
, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
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Sushil R. Kanel
;
Sushil R. Kanel
(Data curation, Methodology, Software, Writing – review & editing)
1
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio 45433, USA
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John S. Bulmer
;
John S. Bulmer
(Data curation, Investigation, Software, Writing – review & editing)
1
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio 45433, USA
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Jeongho Park;
Jeongho Park
(Data curation, Writing – review & editing)
1
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio 45433, USA
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Genevieve Dion;
Genevieve Dion
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition)
2
Center for Functional Fabrics, Drexel University
, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 USA
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John J. Boeckl
John J. Boeckl
(Conceptualization, Data curation)
1
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio 45433, USA
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
J. Appl. Phys. 133, 094302 (2023)
Article history
Received:
August 28 2022
Accepted:
February 03 2023
Citation
Steven B. Fairchild, Chelsea E. Amanatides, Thiago A. de Assis, Paul T. Murray, Dmitri Tsentalovich, Jeffrey L. Ellis, Salvador Portillo, Sushil R. Kanel, John S. Bulmer, Jeongho Park, Genevieve Dion, John J. Boeckl; Field emission cathodes made from knitted carbon nanotube fiber fabrics. J. Appl. Phys. 7 March 2023; 133 (9): 094302. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0123120
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