Mechanism responsible for initiating carbon nanotube vacuum breakdown.

We report a physical mechanism responsible for initiating a vacuum breakdown process of a single carbon nanotube (CNT) during field emission. A quasidynamic method has been developed to simulate the breakdown process and calculate the critical field, critical emission current density and critical temperature beyond which thermal runaway occurs before the CNT temperature reaches its melting point. This model is in good agreement with experiments carried out with a single CNT on a silicon microtip.

[1]  C. Journet,et al.  Modelization of resistive heating of carbon nanotubes during field emission , 2002 .

[2]  R. H. Good,et al.  Thermionic Emission, Field Emission, and the Transition Region , 1956 .

[3]  Vu Thien Binh,et al.  Hot nanotubes: stable heating of individual multiwall carbon nanotubes to 2000 k induced by the field-emission current. , 2002, Physical review letters.

[4]  Jingqi Li,et al.  Thermal conductivity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes , 2002 .

[5]  T. Burgin,et al.  Evaporation of carbon nanotubes during electron field emission , 2001 .

[6]  H. Lezec,et al.  Electrical conductivity of individual carbon nanotubes , 1996, Nature.

[7]  Young Hee Lee,et al.  Fully sealed, high-brightness carbon-nanotube field-emission display , 1999 .

[8]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  In situ imaging of field emission from individual carbon nanotubes and their structural damage , 2002 .

[9]  W. D. de Heer,et al.  A Carbon Nanotube Field-Emission Electron Source , 1995, Science.

[10]  A. Zettl,et al.  Thermal conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes , 1998 .

[11]  N. Xu,et al.  Vacuum breakdown of carbon-nanotube field emitters on a silicon tip , 2003 .

[12]  Gehan A. J. Amaratunga,et al.  Field electron emission from individual carbon nanotubes of a vertically aligned array , 2002 .

[13]  Y. Lamy,et al.  High brightness electron beam from a multi-walled carbon nanotube , 2002, Nature.

[14]  Andrew G. Glen,et al.  APPL , 2001 .

[15]  G. Amaratunga,et al.  Study of multi-walled carbon nanotube structures fabricated by PMMA suspended dispersion , 2002 .

[16]  Fritz John,et al.  Advanced numerical analysis , 1956 .

[17]  S. Iijima.  Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon , 1991, Nature.

[18]  Kenneth A. Dean,et al.  Degradation and failure of carbon nanotube field emitters , 2003 .

[19]  Thomas Nussbaumer,et al.  Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in carbon nanotubes , 1999, Nature.

[20]  P. Avouris,et al.  Current saturation and electrical breakdown in multiwalled carbon nanotubes. , 2001, Physical review letters.