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In situ alignment of carbon nanocoils and their field emission behavior induced by an electric field

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Abstract

The alignment of nanocoils by an electric field was observed in situ inside a focused ion beam microscope. This alignment occurred at relatively low fields, before the onset of electron field emission. The emission behavior of individual nanocoils was also studied using a field emission probe system. The robust coils reached high emission currents, with more than 10 μA coming from individual coils at fields stronger than 4 V/μm. The emission behavior, however, was not wholly consistent with conventional field emission theory. Analysis of the data showed non-linear Fowler–Nordheim behavior. This phenomenon is usually attributed to thermal effects, but numerical calculations show that cannot be the case. The data plotted linearly on a Schottky plot, which should not be possible due to Schottky temperature dependence and resistive heating during emission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    E. Einarsson, D.W. Tuggle & J. Jiao

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  1. E. Einarsson
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  2. D.W. Tuggle
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  3. J. Jiao
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Correspondence to J. Jiao.

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81.07.-b

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Einarsson, E., Tuggle, D. & Jiao, J. In situ alignment of carbon nanocoils and their field emission behavior induced by an electric field. Appl. Phys. A 79, 2049–2054 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-2674-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-2674-2

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