Field emission properties of fullerenes

The term “fullerenes” is applied to a wide class of polyatomic molecules of carbon Cn, where n ≥ 60, and solids based on them. Usually, however, fullerene molecule called C60, that is, a molecule consisting of sixty carbon atoms arranged on a spherical surface. The carbon atoms are located on the surface of the sphere at the vertices of pentagons (the Pentagon) and hexagons (hexagon) [1, 2,]. These closed surface structures exhibit specific properties as physical objects, and in chemical systems. Electrical, optical and mechanical properties of fullerenes indicate both the rich content of physical phenomena involving fullerenes, and the significant prospects for the use of these materials in electronics, optoelectronics and other fields. One of the most unstudied processes for fullerenes is field emission. Field electron emission- emission of free electrons from the surface of cathode during the application of high electric field [3]. This is the only form of emission, which does not require the preliminary electron excitation [4].