Study of the field-screening effect of highly ordered carbon nanotube arrays

We have studied the field-screening effect provoked by the proximity of neighboring tubes by changing the tube height of highly ordered carbon nanotubes fabricated on porous anodic aluminum oxide templates. The field emission was critically affected by the tube height that protruded from the surface. The field emission was optimal when the tube height was similar to the intertube distance. The intertube distance to the tube height for maximum field emission is about one half the intertube distance predicted by Nilsson [Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 2071 (2000)]. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.