Field emission electron source
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsAlexander Karlwalter Zettl, Marvin Lou Cohen
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Abstract
A novel field emitter material, field emission electron source, and commercially feasible fabrication method is described. The inventive field emission electron source produces reliable electron currents of up to 400 mA/cm.sup.2 at 200 volts. The emitter is robust and the current it produces is not sensitive to variability of vacuum or the distance between the emitter tip and the cathode. The novel emitter has a sharp turn-on near 100 volts.
Claims25
An electric field emitter material comprising,
- a) a volume of binder;
- and
- b) a volume of B.sub.X C.sub.Y N.sub.Z nanotubes suspended in the binder, where x, y, and z are numbers that indicate the relative ratios boron, carbon, and nitrogen.
An electric field emitter material comprising, B.sub.X C.sub.Y N.sub.Z nanotubes bound to one another in a matrix, where x, y, and z are numbers that indicate the relative ratios boron, carbon, and nitrogen.
A field emission electron source comprising,
- a) a volume of binder;
- b) a volume of B.sub.X C.sub.Y N.sub.Z nanotubes suspended in the binder, where x, y, and z are numbers that indicate the relative ratios of boron, carbon, and nitrogen;
- and
- c) at least one electrode attached to the binder matrix.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.