Field emission performance of bulk graphene

Graphene is an upcoming field emission material. However, graphene based thin film devices are prone to irreversible damage, and the stability for long-term operation is poor. In this study, bulk graphene emitter has been proposed for the first time. The emitter was generated by cold pressing using high quality graphene. The novel bulk emitter exhibited an outstanding field emission performance with the turn-on electric field (at 100 mu A/cm(2)) and threshold electric field (at 10 mA/cm(2)) values determined to be 0.73 V/mu m and 1.09 V/mu m, respectively, along with a maximum current density of 715.51 mA/cm(2). Besides, a stable emission of 209.78 mA/cm(2) was obtained continuously for over 60 h. The self-compensation electron emission mechanism of bulk graphene was proposed based on the morphological changes and simulation results.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel bulk graphene emitter with outstanding field emission performance and stability was proposed and demonstrated. The bulk emitter, fabricated by cold pressing high quality graphene, exhibited low turn-on and threshold electric fields, high maximum current density, and stable emission for an extended period of time.