A study of field emission from supramolecular carbon structures

The characteristics of field emission from carbon nanoclusters (mainly nanotubes with open ends) produced by cold destruction from natural graphite are investigated. The specimen employed in the study is a coating of carbon nanocluster mixture in N-methylpirolidone upon a tungsten electrode. Field emission microscopy, electron microscopy, electron diffraction and IR spectroscopy are employed in structure studies of the carbon specimen. Investigation of the emission properties of the specimens confirmed that field emission from these materials takes place in electric fields more than two orders of magnitude lower than in metals and semiconductors. The mechanism of electron emission from these materials is evidently linked to tunneling emission.