Effect of Nano-Sized Silver Powders in CNT Paste on Field Emission Characteristics of Carbon Nanotube Cathode

Abstract

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.