Field emission energy distribution of MgO-coated MWCNTs

Due to a recent discovery of large secondary electron emission from MgO-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MgO/MWCNTs) (J. Appl. Phys. 89 (2001) 4091), much interest has been focused on this topic for its potential application as an electron emission source. Field emission and field emission energy distribution (FEED) of MgO/MWCNTs are investigated. The I–V curves for these MgO/MWCNTs exhibited a bump in the middle of the curve which may be caused by the existence of a MgO insulating layer. The FEED for these coated MWCNTs showed one or two peak(s) depending on whether the MgO/MWCNT sample was aged or not. The field emission from different MgO/MWCNTs with different tip radii may be responsible for this FEED peak behavior.