Breaking single-walled carbon nanotube bundles by Joule heating

Electrical breakdown induced by Joule heating was employed to make a well-aligned surface structure from single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) bundles. The surfaces at the breaking ends are tip abundant and composed of SWCNTs of high quality. In addition, the radial breathing mode frequencies of the CNT tips have a downshift than the as-grown SWCNTs, due to the higher thermal stability of wider SWCNTs and the strong intertube interactions. The ends can provide emission currents of about 100 mu A, and a pixel based on these potential electron emitters was developed for lateral field emission displays. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.