Effect of temperature on field emission from a micrometer-long single-walled carbon nanotube

Abstract

Charge distribution along a micrometer-long carbon nanotube subject to an external applied electric field at different temperatures is determined via a quantum mechanical method. Corresponding emission current is evaluated via the Wentzel-Kramere-Brillouin approximation. For a capped micrometer-long (5,5) nanotube, an external field of 10 V μm or above is required to produce the measurable current. Because of the overwhelming effects of the accumulation charges of the tip, the temperature alone has small effects on the field emission that can be observed in the experiments, and the strong self-heating effects are thus attributed mainly to the induced structural changes of carbon nanotubes. © 2006 The American Physical Society.