FABRICATION OF GRAPHITE AND GRAPHENE-BASED MATERIALS FOR FIELD EMISSION APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Graphene has attracted intense research efforts due to its unique properties and wide variety of potential applications. The objective of this work was to fabricate graphite and graphene-based materials for field emission applications. Investigations were first carried out on the growth and field emission properties of nanographite in an amorphous carbon (a-C) matrix deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Subsequently, graphene was segregated using PLD and the effects of various parameters such as cooling rate, substrate and laser energy were studied. By controlling the cooling rate and laser energy, graphene was grown directly on metal nanocones at a reduced temperature compared to conventional graphene growth techniques. This study was then extended to explore the growth of large area graphene-based field emitters using an upscalable and low cost method i.e. electrophoretic deposition. The findings of this study may contribute to the development of large area graphene-based field emitters for future applications.