Field emission from well-aligned, patterned, carbon nanotube emitters

We have developed a process to fabricate well-aligned, patterned, carbon nanotube field emitters on glass substrates. The process consists of depositing and patterning a nickel-based metal line on the glass substrate followed by a bias-enhanced microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition to grow carbon nanotube emitters. A turn-on field of 1.2 V/mu m, and emission currents of 1 mA/cm(2) at 3 V/mu m were achieved on well-aligned carbon nanotube emitters. A test of cathode-ray tube lighting elements now underway suggests a lifetime of exceeding 10 000 h. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)03713-X].