Beam Trajectory Analysis of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Emitters with a Microchannel Plate

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are essential to studying high current density, low dispersion, and high brightness. Vertically aligned 14 x 14 CNT emitters are fabricated as an island by sputter coating, photolithography, and the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. Scanning electron microscopy is used to analyze the morphology structures with an average height of 40 mu m. The field emission microscopy image is captured on the microchannel plate (MCP). The role of the microchannel plate is to determine how the high-density electron beam spot is measured under the variation of voltage and exposure time. The MCP enhances the field emission current near the threshold voltage and protects the CNT from irreversible damage during the vacuum arc. The high-density electron beam spot is measured with an FWHM of 2.71 mm under the variation of the applied voltage and the exposure time, respectively, which corresponds to the real beam spot. This configuration produces the beam trajectory with low dispersion under the proper field emission, which could be applicable to high-resolution multi-beam electron microscopy and high-resolution X-ray imaging technology.

Automated summary

This study successfully achieved the goal of measuring the spot of high-density electron beams under the variation of voltage and exposure time by fabricating vertically aligned carbon nanotube emitters. By capturing microimages on a microchannel plate and analyzing the morphology structures using scanning electron microscopy, the researchers obtained measurements of the high-density electron beam and demonstrated that this configuration is applicable to high-resolution multi-beam electron microscopy and high-resolution X-ray imaging technology.