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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
A large area carbon nanotube cathode was fabricated by use of a screen printing method. The emission properties of the cathode were investigated in both direct current and pulse mode experiments. In the direct current mode, the cathode has high field enhancement factor and high emission current density. In the double-pulse mode, the emission current density can approach 267 A/cm2 at an applied electric field of 15.4 V/um. Steady intense electron beams were obtained from the cathode. The results proved that the emission mechanism of CNTs at pulse electric field is plasma-induced field emission. The carbon nanotube cathode is suitable for not only field emission display applications but also high-power microwave device applications.