So far, the investigations of carbon nanotube (CNT) cathode have been focused on the field emission with low current and voltage. However, the properties of the intense pulsed emission of CNT cathode have not been discussed deeply and comprehensively. In this paper, the intense emission properties of velvet and CNT cathode are studied in various aspects, such as emission capability, cathode plasma expansion, cathode initialization, emission uniformity, operation stability, outgassing property, and so on. Three different CNT cathodes are made by using electrophoresis deposition, chemical vapor deposition and also CNT paper (or buckypaper) gluing. Results show that the emission capability of CNT arrays and CNT paper cathode is definitely better than the velvet cathode. At the same diode voltage (～300 kV), the amplitudes of diode current of CNT array and CNT paper are 2.75 and 3.1 kA respectively, which are bigger than that of the velvet cathode (～1 kA). The orientation of CNT should not affect the emission capability of CNT cathodes. And the small radius of the tube wall and the existence of defects are suggested to be the reasons for the emission of electrons from the body of the tubes. The threshold electric field strength of intense emission of CNTs is about two-thirds of velvet cathode. The onset delay time of CNT cathode is shorter than the velvet cathode by about 12-17 ns at the same electric field growth rate. The time-evolution processes of the plasma expansion velocity of CNT and velvet cathodes are similar, which could be divided into three phases (rapid rising, quick decreasing and stable phase). In summary, the plasma expansion velocity of CNT cathode is less than one fourth that of velvet at the end of the first phase. During the stable phase, which sustains until the end of the voltage pulse, both cathodes have the same plasma expansion velocity (7 cm/s). The emission uniformity of the cathode has been studied by analyzing the distributions of cathode plasma spots and Cherenkov radiation light, which are captured by the high speed frame camera. The emission uniformity of CNT cathode is much better than that of the velvet cathode. Especially, the cathode plasma spots on the whole surface of CNT array cathode are very dense and uniform. The peak outgassing pressure of the CNT paper cathode is 0.3 Pa, which is one fifth that of the velvet cathode; while the peak outgassing pressure of the CNT array cathode is 0.042 Pa, which is the lowest, and the outgassing pressure of the CNT cathode is related to the fabrication methods. Volatile such as epoxy should be avoided in the fabrication processes. This CNT cathode appears to be suitable for intense emission source and high-power microwave device applications.
