Hydrogenation and its effects on the field emission characteristics of tetrahedral amorphous carbon coated carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Field emission (FE) properties of a core/shell multiwalled carbon nanotube/tetrahedral amorphous carbon (CNT/ta-C) structure both with and without hydrogenation post-treatment were studied. It was found that the FE properties of the pristine vertically aligned CNTs improved with the ta-C coating and were further enhanced with a slight hydrogenation post-treatment. The thickness effect of the ta-C coating film and the hydrogenation duration effect on the FE characteristics of the specimens were investigated, and we report that the thickness of the ta-C coating film does not influence the FE properties of the emitters. Instead, the duration of hydrogenation treatment plays a key role in modifying their FE characteristics. © 2011 American Chemical Society.