Low turn-on voltage field emission triodes with selective growth of carbon nanotubes

A low turn-on voltage, field emission triode array has been fabricated using the selective deposition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) system. The field emission triodes exhibited a low turn-on voltage of 13 V and a large emission current of 23 μA with the gate voltage at 60 V. Short-term stress reveals a 10% current fluctuation within 1800 sec. The excellent electric properties suggest that the array shows potential for application in field emission displays and vacuum microelectronics.