Yenan Song

Equilibrium Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Bernal-Stacked Bilayer Graphene

Using ethanol as the carbon source, self-limiting growth of AB-stacked bilayer graphene (BLG) has been achieved on Cu via an equilibrium chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. We found that during this alcohol catalytic CVD (ACCVD) a source-gas pressure range exists to break the self-limitation of monolayer graphene on Cu, and at a certain equilibrium state it prefers to form uniform BLG with a high surface coverage of ∼94% and AB-stacking ratio of nearly 100%. More importantly, once the BLG is completed, this growth shows a self-limiting manner, and an extended ethanol flow time does not result in additional layers. We investigate the mechanism of this equilibrium BLG growth using isotopically labeled (13)C-ethanol and selective surface aryl functionalization, and results reveal that during the equilibrium ACCVD process a continuous substitution of graphene flakes occurs to the as-formed graphene and the BLG growth follows a layer-by-layer epitaxy mechanism. These phenomena are significantly in contrast to those observed for previously reported BLG growth using methane as precursor.

Fabrication of carbon nanotube emitters on the graphite rod and their high field emission performance

Carbon nanotube (CNT) emitters with small emission area were fabricated on graphite rods using CNT films. By introducing the edge polishing process, the field emission performance of the CNT emitter was much improved, which showed a very high emission current of 6.34 mA (1.6 A/cm2) under an applied electric field of 5.3 V/μm. It also indicates good long-term emission stability, which reveals no degradation in the emission current for 20 h. The emission patterns demonstrate uniform and well-focused electron beam spots. The enhanced field emission performance is mainly attributed to the suppressed edge emission after the edge polishing process.

Excellent oxidation endurance of boron nitride nanotube field electron emitters

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are considered as a promising cold electron emission material owing to their negative electron affinity. BNNT field emitters show excellent oxidation endurance after high temperature thermal annealing of 600 °C in air ambient. There is no damage to the BNNTs after thermal annealing at a temperature of 600 °C and also no degradation of field emission properties. The thermally annealed BNNTs exhibit a high maximum emission current density of 8.39 mA/cm2 and show very robust emission stability. The BNNTs can be a promising emitter material for field emission devices under harsh oxygen environments.

Field emission behavior of carbon nanotube field emitters after high temperature thermal annealing

The carbon nanotube (CNT) field emitters have been fabricated by attaching a CNT film on a graphite rod using graphite adhesive material. The CNT field emitters showed much improved field emission properties due to increasing crystallinity and decreasing defects in CNTs after the high temperature thermal annealing at 900 °C in vacuum ambient. The CNT field emitters showed the low turn-on electric field of 1.15 V/μm, the low threshold electric field of 1.62 V/μm, and the high emission current of 5.9 mA which corresponds to a current density of 8.5 A/cm2. In addition, the CNT field emitters indicated the enhanced field emission properties due to the multi-stage effect when the length of the graphite rod increases. The CNT field emitter showed good field emission stability after the high temperature thermal annealing. The CNT field emitter revealed a focused electron beam spot without any focusing electrodes and also showed good field emission repeatability.

High performance field emission properties of graphite nanoplatelet field emitters

Graphite nanoplatelet (GNP) that consists of several tens of layers of graphene sheets is a promising candidate for electron field emission. The GNP emitter shows good field emission properties with a high emission current and a robust long-term stability because of the sharp edges, the high aspect ratio, and the stacked graphene sheets. Most of the electrons are emitted from the sharp edges of GNPs. The GNP emitters fabricated by the screen printing method reveal the turn-on electric field of 1.77 V/μm, the threshold electric field of 4.47 V/μm, the maximum emission current density of 39 mA/cm2, and the good emission stability for 20 h with little degradation rate of the emission current. The GNP field emitters can be a good candidate for several field emission applications such as flat lamps, field emission displays, and x-ray sources.

Water-processed carbon nanotube/graphene hybrids with enhanced field emission properties

Integrating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene into hybrid structures provides a novel approach to three dimensional (3D) materials with advantageous properties. Here we present a water-processing method to create integrated CNT/graphene hybrids and test their field emission properties. With an optimized mass ratio of CNTs to graphene, the hybrid shows a significantly enhanced field emission performance, such as turn-on electric field of 0.79 V/μm, threshold electric field of 1.05 V/μm, maximum current density of 0.1 mA/cm2, and field enhancement factor of ∼1.3 × 104. The optimized mass ratio for field emission emphasizes the importance of both CNTs and graphene in the hybrid. We also hypothesize a possible mechanism for this enhanced field emission performance from the CNT/graphene hybrid. During the solution treatment, graphene oxide behaves as surfactant sheets for CNTs to form a well dispersed solution, which leads to a better organized 3D structure with more conducting channels for electron transport.

Epitaxial nucleation of CVD bilayer graphene on copper

Bilayer graphene (BLG) has emerged as a promising candidate for next-generation electronic applications, especially when it exists in the Bernal-stacked form, but its large-scale production remains a challenge. Here we present an experimental and first-principles calculation study of the epitaxial chemical vapor deposition (CVD) nucleation process for Bernal-stacked BLG growth on Cu using ethanol as a precursor. Results show that a carefully adjusted flow rate of ethanol can yield a uniform BLG film with a surface coverage of nearly 90% and a Bernal-stacking ratio of nearly 100% on ordinary flat Cu substrates, and its epitaxial nucleation of the second layer is mainly due to the active CH3 radicals with the presence of a monolayer-graphene-covered Cu surface. We believe that this nucleation mechanism will help clarify the formation of BLG by the epitaxial CVD process, and lead to many new strategies for scalable synthesis of graphene with more controllable structures and numbers of layers.

Field Emission from Lateral Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Yarn Emitters

A field emission from a lateral emitter made by a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) yarn was investigated. The lateral emitter showed an excellent field emission performance with a low turn-on electric field of 1.13 V/um at an emission current of 1 uA, high emission current of 0.2 mA at an applied voltage of 700 V, and long-time emission stability for over 20 h without any significant current decay under an initial emission current of about 0.10 mA. The lateral emitter also demonstrated a uniform line emission pattern. It is suggested that the field emission occurs from the outmost MWCNTs which are protruding out from the yarn surface.

Field emission properties of carbon nanotube emitters dependent on electrode geometry

Field emission properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) emitters dependent on electrode geometry have been systematically studied using two different types of diode electrode configurations. The experimental and simulation results clearly reveal that field emission properties, such as emission current and long-term emission stability, are strongly influenced by the geometry of the electrode configuration. The enhanced local electric field at the periphery of CNT emitters results in high local edge emissions that severely degrade emission current during long-term emission stability test and reduce the emission current density before electrical breakdown.

Response to “Comment on ‘Water-processed carbon nanotube/graphene hybrids with enhanced field emission properties’” [AIP Advances 8, 039101 (2018)]

In this response, we explain the points mentioned by R. Rani and R. Bhatia in their Comment for our previous paper [AIP Advances 5, 097130 (2015)], that the high value of β obtained in Song et al. [AIP Advances 5, 097130 (2015)] is misleading because it does not corroborate with the obtained Jmax, and the obtained value of Jmax is “low” in the mentioned study as compared to the reported values [J. Appl. Phys. 111, 044307 (2012) & Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 033102 (2013)]. For the high value of β, the obtained current Jmax is corroborated but such high value is mainly due to the multistage effect when CNTs are deposited on the rough surface of reduced graphene. For the “low” Jmax, although this is true when compared with Sameera et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 111, 044307 (2012) and Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 033102 (2013)], but we believe that our value is a generally common value when compared with other reports [Diam. Relat. Mater. 47, 1 (2014); J. Alloys Compd. 610, 659 (2014); J. Nanomater. 2013, 5239 (2013)] using th...