Structural change at the carbon-nanotube tip by field emission

Carbon-nanotube tips are plastically deformed during field emission. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and structural simulations suggest that the deformed structure of the closed nanotube is explained by heterogeneous nucleation of the pentagonal and heptagonal carbon ring pairs, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2001-06, Vol.78 (23), p.3699-3701
Main Authors: Kuzumaki, Toru, Takamura, Yuzuru, Ichinose, Hideki, Horiike, Yasuhiro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CARBON
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
ELECTRON EMISSION
FIELD EMISSION
INCLINATION
ION MICROSCOPES
LINE DEFECTS
NUCLEATION
PHYSICS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
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Summary:Carbon-nanotube tips are plastically deformed during field emission. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and structural simulations suggest that the deformed structure of the closed nanotube is explained by heterogeneous nucleation of the pentagonal and heptagonal carbon ring pairs, and that of the opened one is represented by sp3-like line defects in the hexagonal carbon network. It is considered that the changing of the inclination of the Fowler–Nordheim plots corresponds to the structural change in which a tip becomes sharp. The field ion microscope image and the corresponding field-emission pattern suggest that the electron emission from a closed nanotube is not necessarily from pentagonal carbon rings, but from the protrudent carbon network sites on the tip.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.1376149