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The Influence of Carbon Nanotube's Conductivity and Diameter on Its Thermionic Electron Emission
Author(s) -
Yang Xinhe,
Wang Xinhe,
Liu Peng,
Wang Jiangtao,
Zhang Lina,
Jin Xiang,
Liu Zebin,
Li Qunqing,
Fan Shoushan,
Jiang Kaili
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.202000069
Subject(s) - thermionic emission , carbon nanotube , work function , field electron emission , electron , materials science , conductivity , electrode , cathode , atomic physics , nanotechnology , chemistry , physics , layer (electronics) , quantum mechanics
High‐temperature thermionic electron emission from different types of individual suspended carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a homemade chip is studied. When collecting emission electrons with an external electrode, it is found that the collecting electric field influence the transport current in the CNTs, and the thermionic electron emission deviated from the traditional thermionic electron emission model and cannot reach “saturation”. This effect is analyzed for single‐walled, double‐walled, multiwalled‐CNT and CNT bundles. It is found that this effect show correlation with the conductivity and diameter of the CNT. With the increase in metallicity, the influence of collecting electrode is gradually weakened. Also, the effect shows a negative correlation with the diameter of CNTs. An equation is proposed to describe the measured thermionic emission curve and determine the “effective” work function of the CNT.