The effect of the dielectric constant (k) of bonding materials in a screen-printed carbon nanotube (CNT) cathode on the field enhancement factor was investigated for high-efficiency CNT cathodes using the ANSYS software. The values obtained by a simulation study were compared to the experimental results obtained for screen-printed CNT cathodes. The field enhancement factor increased as the dielectric constant decreased, reaching a maximum value at a dielectric constant of 1, the value for a vacuum. The findings indicate that the larger sheet resistance of the bonding materials, after the firing process, can be attributed to the larger emission current of the CNT cathode. From these results, it was concluded that the best bonding materials for screen-printed CNT cathodes should have a low dielectric constant and a high sheet resistance. This finding can be used as criteria for selecting bonding materials for use in CNT pastes for highly efficient CNT cathodes.
Carbon nanotube (CNT) cathodes were fabricated using nano-sized silver (Ag) powders as a bonding material between the CNTs and cathode electrodes. The effects of the powder size on the sintering behavior, the current density and emission image for CNT cathodes were investigated. As the diameter of the Ag powders decreases to 10 nm, the sintering temperature of the CNT cathode was lowered primarily due to the higher specific surface area of the Ag powders. In this study, it was demonstrated that nano-sized Ag powders can be feasibly used as a bonding material for a screen-printed CNT cathode, yielding a high current density and a uniform emission image.Key words silver nano powder, bonding material, screen print, CNT emitter, field emission.
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