Temporal field emission current stability and fluctuations from graphene films

Stable field emission currents and low fluctuations are important feasibility requirements for the application of materials in field emission devices and displays. The current stability and current fluctuations of field emitted electrons from graphene films are investigated for the periods of 24 and 100 h. The graphene films showed different percentage of variation from the initial current density for different films ranging from 6% to 46% and the standard deviation in the range of 2-6 mu A/cm(2). The short- and long-term stability and fluctuations of the graphene films are reported and the causes for degradation of the emission current are discussed. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3474800]