Method of fabricating carbon nanotube field emitter using electrophoresis

摘要

Method for fabricating a carbon nanotube field emitter by electrophoresis on a field emitter substrate 10' where the field emitter substrate includes cathodes arranged in stripes, a dielectric film formed with holes over the cathodes and metal gates formed with openings located over the holes of the dielectric film. The method comprises loading an electrode plate 23 and field emitter substrate 10' into an electrophoresis bath 21 containing a carbon nanotube suspension 22. Then a voltage is applied between the electrode plate and the cathodes of the field emitter substrate to deposit carbon nanotube particles at room temperature on the surfaces of the cathodes exposed through the holes of the dielectric film on the field emitter substrate. The field emitter substrate upon which the nanotubes have been deposited is then drawn out of the bath and heated. The nanotubes in the suspension may have a length between 0.1 and 1 micrometer and may be screened by field flow fractionation. The nanotube suspension may include a surfactant eg Tritron X-100, AOT and nitrates of Mg(OH)2, Al(OH)2 and LA(OH)3 and be sonicated during the electrophoresis. The voltage applied may be in the range 1-1000 volts and may be applied for a duration between 1 second and 10 minutes. The nanotube may be deposited to a thickness of 0.01 to 0.5 micrometers and may be heated at a temperature of 150 to 500{C.