The production of transparent carbon nanotube field emitters using inkjet printing

This study reports the field-emission characteristics of transparent single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) film printed using an inkjet. Pure SWCNTs dispersed in dimethylformamide were printed in a transparent layer on indium-tin oxide-coated glass and annealed at 350 degrees C. The SWCNTs were aligned vertically through a surface treatment that involved detaching a sticky tape off. The front and back of the fabricated device produced simultaneous emissions of identical quality. In addition, inkjet printing directly achieved a patterned emission, without a secondary pattern process. This method provides a scheme to fabricate direct aligned SWCNT patterns without using additives. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.